TimeScape
by LochCamaen
Summary: Transformers Animated AU. A deadly war rages eternally; The Golden Age has died with it. There is little hope in such a dark time, but there are those who still fight in the hope for freedom. After a freak accident, one warrior among them has the chance to change everything and end it all, but who and what will he dare to risk for it?
1. Prologue

_Hello, internet! I won't keep you for too long, promise! Just wanna let you know that this is just a little one-shot idea I had, no planning of continuing as of yet. Might, but not too sure. What's basically going on in this first chapter is that it's been almost one million years since Endgame and the team has returned to Cybertron since the Decepticons left Earth and Sari wants to get away from some painful memories (will be explained later). However, things have changed since then and Cybertron is as dead as Yoketron while war-no, war's child's play compared to what's happened. _

_All will be explained as this chapter goes on and more will probably be too if I decide to continue this. Just tell me in a review if you think I should continue this at all or not, but flames will be used to roast Sari's mellow-marshes! _

_I own nothing here except for my OCs, Aluri, Bombay, Hipontah, NetGear, Quick-Silver and anyone else you don't recognize! Enjoy!_

**0XX0**

_They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself._

-Andy Warhol-

_**Dedicated to Prowl and all the true heroes that have passed.**_

**0XX0**

It was hard to remember a time of peace and tranquillity, but they knew it had once been real for they had been part of it. It had been the Golden Age, oh so glorious and wonderful. Sure there had been times where patience, friendships and loyalties were tested, but they had come out fine in the end...Better than now anyway...

But, alas, times had turned dark on them and memories of no fighting or warfare were vague among them all. It was hard to keep going with such little hope and yet, so much despair...

He remembered Earth quite clearly though, the beauty of machines and organics together in harmony. It had amazed him so. Though the inhabitants were a primitive and violent race, they were young and only beginning to grow and learn about their world. They had so much to learn and there was goodness in them, though some refused to acknowledge it. They reminded the Autobots of themselves...back when being an Autobot or a Decepticon actually meant something.

He let out a small chuckle at the thought. It was difficult to process the fact that he and his team had once been either Autobots or Decepticons, but they knew it was true. They couldn't deny what they had once stood for, what they once represented in the big, wide universe.

The two opposing factions may have called it the Clone Revolution, but it was nothing like that. It was more like the Clone War (Bluestreak had named it that after remembering an Earth film he had watched).

The memory of its starting point was as clear as his master's passing, burnt in the core of his CPU to remain forever and a day. The Elite Guard had only been on Earth for a short while and they (well, actually, just Jazz) were just beginning to understand what it held. However, a Decepticon had transwarped to Detroit and had began destroying the downtown, demanding Megatron come out of hiding and face him, but the former Decepticon leader never did. However, he, his old teammates and the Elite Guard came instead.

What wasn't known at the time was that, somehow, two AllSpark fragments powered the Decepticon known as NetGear. How that was possible was unknown, but it didn't matter. What they needed to do was bring him down before he destroyed the whole of Michigan!

What also made him remember that solar cycle so well was not that it was the beginning of the end, but also that he had been reunited with Bluestreak, his own brother whom he took for offline after the attack on their home city-state of Praxus. But despite the silent joy that he had felt, horror swept through his systems when Bluestreak claimed to not remember anything before he was found.

The pain of losing his dear younger brother again was spark-breaking. The emptiness that had just been filled was there once again and it had taken all of his will not to break. However, he felt he had to feel glad for Bluestreak: while incognito during the war and centuries afterwards, he had found a femme, Aluri and they had become close as friends over the time they spent together, travelling the universe for her father and his memories before they ran into NetGear.

The two had followed him to Earth and helped the two teams of Autobots bring down NetGear, with Ultra Magnus serving the final blow.

Unfortunately, time with the two was cut short as they left for Cybertron with the Elite Guard and a captive NetGear and Starscream. The team's lives soon came back to normality, unaware of what was to happen once the first captured Decepticon stepped foot on Cybertron.

What happened afterwards was almost a blur to him. Everything changed so quickly for them, but they adapted and kept going on, battling the Decepticons until Earth held no value for them any longer. In the end, their enemies left, but so did they.

It wasn't until Sari had requested that they take up Ultra Magnus' offer of returning to Cybertron, taking her along that they actually did. The young techno-organic claimed that she had always wanted to see their home planet, but her robot friends knew that she was hiding the real reason behind her intentions.

It was Ratchet, the ol' red and white Med-bot, that had first found out. He knew that Sari couldn't stay on Earth: it was painful for her and there were too many memories that would have her broken within nanoclicks. Ratchet had felt the same way after the Great War, he understood and it was with that, that a ship was sent. Many goodbyes and farewells were expressed, but they still left.

For Sari's sake.

There were many things that he could've done to stop themselves from leaving. Then maybe they would still be online, still with him and Sari and ...Safe, away from the war. But how were they supposed to know? They couldn't see the future and what horrors it held for them as the war raged on like a burning wildfire of hate and greed for power.

_"**PROWL!**"_ The black and gold cyber-ninja held in a gasp of surprise when the angered voice came through his . Shaking his head and then sighing, as he would, Prowl reached up to his master's helmet and activated his .

"Prowl here. What is it, Wheeljack?" Prowl asked, no emotion coming through his voice as he scanned the area around and below the building he stood in. Well, what was left of it anyway. He heard the engineer sigh and mutter, a clear sign that he was annoyed.

_"I've been tryin' to contact you for the past cycle!"_ Yeah, he was annoyed and his accent showed it. The war had demanded so much from the entire team and it was getting to them. They just wanted it all to end. Prowl gave the area another scan. Nothing yet, but there was always a new platoon sent out on the breem, ready to battle to the end.

The building he stood in had once been part of a city-state that some could call a legendary sanctuary: Iacon. It didn't protect any one from war or the fighting any longer for it had been brought to ruin much like the rest of Cybertron, grand cities turned to wreckage. The large planet had long been consumed by death, but the Autobots and Decepticons never saw fit to leave as long as their home, if it could even be called that any more, was in orbit.

" I had my processor on other things." That was the half-truth. It was mega-rare that Prowl could get away from the underground base and not end up in the repair bay less than a megacycle later. The only way he could get away was by hiding from both Autobots and Decepticons, both of whom would certainly either offline him once he was seen or torture him for information. Maybe even processed...

_" You need to get back to HQ. Rodimus needs to talk to you about the information you and Arcee got the other solar cycle."_ Wheeljack informed him. Prowl placed his optics on the ground in front of him before lifting them up to the dark, starless sky.

"I'll be there in a couple cycles. Prowl out." Wheeljack deactivated his with a similar farewell and Prowl could feel the ground vibrating, a warning of the new platoons arriving and fast. And so, with his ninja grace and agility, Prowl leapt down from the ruined and cragged structure of the building. He made no sound, even with his armour upgrades, and landed in a crouch position before standing straight and tall, careful not to attract any unwanted attention to himself.

The ground was now vibrating with a thunderous echo. The platoons were close, ready to battle it out for the unclaimed ground he stood on. Quite pointless to him and his team, but worth everything in Longarm and Shockwave's optics.

In a flash, Prowl transformed into his Cybertronian vehicle mode. It was similar to what it had been prior his Earth mode, but with the armour, most of the tints of blue were replaced with his trademark black and gold. It was also slightly bulkier than previously and his rear tyre was almost hidden from side view. Nevertheless, his vehicle mode was as sleek and fast as it had ever been before.

But there was a large difference in what he had once been and what he was. It wasn't in looks though, no, but rather with his condition: all over his vehicle mode were marks, scars, small dents, what looked like puncture holes and evidence. Evidence of long war and hard battles stood out on the mech as well as what looked like premature ageing from long orns of no recharge and preparing for the next solar cycle.

They were all like that now. Every one of them. They all held the burden, felt the stress and sorrow. They had lost so much, it was a miracle that they were stilling fighting with the little faith and hope for their far away fantasies that they still clung onto during the long solar cycles that they faced.

_'Just be thankful for the things you have.'_

They were thankful, maybe not as much as they would like to be or showed, but they were grateful that they at least had a small sanctuary, a place to hide from their enemies while their never-ending warfare continued to destroy the very being of themselves, those around and their home.

Despite their well hidden hiding place deep under the planet's scarred and torn surface, they were still at no peace. Sometimes, they refused to recharge out of fear of being found, fear of being killed or processed and concern for their friends. It gripped at their processors, tearing away at their sanity, slowly, but getting there. Cycle by cycle...

It was only the memories of the loved and lost that kept them from slipping over the edge. Ratchet had always said that no one would want to relive the events of the Great War. True, Prowl had been around during that time, but he had avoided it for as long as he could. He had seen the carnage and death at every possible corner, and it haunted him that he hadn't helped.

However, Ratchet had been wrong. Anyone would want to relive the Great War instead of their Clone War. Compared to this, the Great War was child's play. A mere child's game he had seen on Earth, played in the youngling's spare time. They didn't have that luxury.

It didn't take more than 3 cycles for Prowl to return to the entrance of the base. Transforming into robot mode, the ninja-bot could hear battle breaking out far behind, the screams, yells and cries of war, death that would echo through his chassis even after he was offlined. He silently crept toward a mound of rubble, debris and unrecognisable, rusting chassis' of both Autobots and Decepticons that had been swept to the sidelines for the next battle. They leant against other piles, creating a sort of landscape that some would only see through an artist's vision...

Or a psychotic bot's.

Prowl crept towards one certain pair of piles that leant against each other like ocean waves crashing onto the rocks near the beach on Earth. When he came into servo's distance of the junk, he knelt down and brushed his servo over the ground. A collection of muffled beeps came to his audio receptors before a hiss and the sound of scraping metal and stone against each over.

The sounds all stopped as a hidden trap door revealed itself to Prowl's right, leading into a dark pit. Nevertheless, the ninja-bot stood up, scanned around and then jumped through the gap before it closed up with the same scraping sound.

Prowl's landing echoed throughout the hidden tunnel, each step darker and louder than the last, travelling deeper and deeper under the crust and into the buried core. Though the tunnel was just as dark as the surface, Prowl could see the walls around him change as he walked deeper down. The metallic feel began to fade away into a substance he had seen before, but on a different planet.

Prowl brushed his digits on the wall of the blackened road ahead and could feel the substance almost crumble at his dense touch. Yes, it was very much like the rock and soil of Earth.

Rodimus and the founding members of the team had actually discovered it. No one had ever once thought that their home of Cybertron, the infamous planet of metal, had an organic core in which a being of legend and far off tales rested, holding onto dear life to keep the on-going war at bay. Since the AllSpark had been torn from his very self, it was draining every ounce of his life force to keep everything going.

Primus could only rest during such difficult times.

Prowl slowed as he neared the end of the path, a hard, jagged rock wall facing him and signifying his destination. Only a couple steps away from the vertical wall, the ninja-bot stopped and simply waited. Familiar clicks, beeps and whirs, all muffled, came to his audio receptors once more. He stood still as ever, even as he felt the scan swept over him: one of Wheeljack's few inventions that didn't blow up in his face (...literally...).

Before even half a cycle passed, the scan stopped and Prowl moved once more, but not in step, but rather reaching out as a rock face moved aside, showing a datapad. Prowl placed three of his digits onto the pad and waited with much hard-earned patience as they were scanned with more accuracy and precision than the last scan. He moved his servo away just as the datapad became hidden behind the small rock face again. In a fraction of a klick, the rock face flickered away into thin air, showing twin doors sliding open, but slowly and with jerks, like an ancient door that hadn't been opened for much time. Prowl slipped between the gap before the doors slammed shut behind him.

He walked through the large, brightly lit dome of a planet core with no emotion still on his faceplates. His still posture was kept, even when the thick foliage reached out to grab and greet him with their stiff branches and soft leaves. The plant life had grown accustomed to the core of their home, turning it far more organic than it had ever been before.

Then, as he broke through the last layers of foliage around him, the light of the core became brighter, but also turned a dim, humming blue, acknowledging that he had arrived at the right place. Now, in front of him, was a large hologram projector surrounded by a ring of a hovering table that several of his teammates were either leaning against or standing by.

Prowl looked at each of his team mates around said table ring, most of whom had turned their helms and optics to him, but the rest kept their processors on the matter at hand, talking amongst themselves.

Rodimus was one of them, standing in the middle of it all, acting as team leader and holding the Magnus Hammer tight in his scarred right servo, not because he was the current Magnus, no. There hadn't been a Magnus since Ultra Magnus, but it was better than the Autobots having it in their possession. On Rodimus' left were Wheeljack, the team's scientist and engineer who kept their base hidden throughout all the stellar cycles. He wasn't a great tactician or strategist, but he was obviously adding in important notes that would be significant to any mission. Blitzwing stood at Rodimus' right. The former Decepticon currently held his Icy personality, most likely processing a plan of logic that would be sure to lead them to success.

It was still hard to believe that the mech whom he had once fought against on Earth was now his team mate and ally. When the triple-changer claimed that Shockwave had gone mad since Megatron's death and the introduction of processing, and wanted to join them, the infamous, rumoured Rebellion before he was processed, it had taken much time on what choices to make. It was difficult to recruit team members from either Autobot or Decepticon ranks, as there was always the danger of a spy, but in the end, the choice for him to stay was made. The same could be said for Quick-Silver and Dinobot as well.

The speeder was practically the evil counterpart of Blurr, but with many changes in alt mode and mould. If Blurr was the fastest Autobot, then Quick-Silver was the fastest Decepticon. Or had been anyway. Dinobot, however, had not been a Decepticon, but rather a Predacon. The Predacons had been formed to be a sub-group of Decepticons, like the Constructions. What was amazing what the Predacons was that three Originals were still online in their ranks. Dinobot had resigned after being left for dead by Shockwave, only for questioning his motives and lack of honour. Both disgusted him so.

Now, all three were valued members of the Rebellion, Cybertron's last chance of peace and the end of the Clone War. Or so they hoped.

Looking at Prowl as he entered was Bluestreak, who had regained his memories shortly before the war (though it had been painful for both of them); his now-sparkmate Aluri who was training under him in Circuit-Su and Metallikato; Red Alert, the team's medic; Arcee who had recovered a majority of her own memories, but using time rather than the procedure Bluestreak's medics had used on him and finally Sari, their little techno-organic team mate. It was only with her Cybertronian half and some tinkering from Wheeljack and Red Alert that she was even still with them. Luckily, she was also able to breath what was in Cybertron's atmosphere for her organic half to be able to stay alive. But, Prowl wasn't all too sure that it was just her Cybertronian half or any tinkering that was keeping her around, maybe something more powerful...

The two of them only wished that the rest of their 'family' were with them, but they were all long gone as well as many, many others they had once known. They had gone offline at the servos of Longarm, well, not the original, but he was all the same. It still hurt both Prowl and Sari deeply that they had been the only ones able to escape and join the Rebellion. But with Ultra Magnus offline, Longarm's clone had taken over; processing any available Autobot he could lay his servos on.

Optimus, Ratchet, Bulkhead and Bumblebee had been amongst the first 'bots to be processed, however, the technique and cycle was so raw and un-thought through that they didn't make it. They had failed in saving them and now, they had lost their team, the family that they fought so hard to keep together. It just couldn't be replaced.

Rodimus nodded to Prowl as the cyber-ninja took his place across from him before looking around and then turning his helm to Wheeljack. "Did you comm' Bombay and Swoop, Wheeljack?"

"About 12 cycles ago, Rodimus. I don't know where they could be." Rodimus sighed as he leaned against the table on one servo and rubbed his sore optics with the other. You could tell he was on the end of his tether, as humans would say, about the younger femme and the Dinobot medic (he was Red Alert's apprentice currently). Who's stupid idea was it to bring the Dinobots to Cybertron again?

"If she's after Bloodfire again, I swear to Primus I'll-" A familiar cry and thud cut Rodimus off. He removed his servo from his optics and glared over at the source of the interruption. A black, grey and mud-yellow femme and the infamous flying Dinobot known as Bombay and Swoop stood at the edge of the clearing around the them all. Rodimus, clearly annoyed by their lateness, sent a glare to each of them.

"You'd better have a good explanation for this, Bombay. You're almost 15 cycles late." The femme only rolled her optics in young arrogance at the leader who noticed that most of her explosive weapons were missing from her helm and wherever else she could hide them. Swoop had also suffered some damage on his underside and wings, but it was well hidden with the rest of his battle wounds. Rodimus, however, kept his silence on the matter.

"I got caught up in some business." Came the calm response as Bombay walked to her place next to Arcee as Swoop placed himself between Red Alert and Prowl. Rodimus kept his dark, glaring but tired optics on the lying femme. He knew exactly what 'business' she meant; it didn't take a Perceptor to know.

"If you've risked our safety again, I'll have no choice but to let Longarm have you back." Rodimus threatened in the best way he could, but like many young 'bots, she didn't take it in. When she had first joined with her sister, Hipontah, she was the only member who was able to keep a smile for long mega-cycles during the battles. However, since the...incident, she no longer smiled, messed around or laughed, but rather clawed out at her team mates like they were her enemies and sunny jibes had turned into sarcastic wisecracks at any possible moment.

"Roddy," Rodimus kept his cool at the nickname, but the growling rev of his engine was loud enough and his tightened grip on the Magnus Hammer was noticeable. "You've said it before and you'll say it again. I'm too valuable to be handed over and you don't have the tech' to wipe my memory clean forever. Just look at Arcee."

Rodimus glanced over to the oldest femme in the team with softer optics. Her optics glared also at the arrogant femme next to her, but there was a hidden sorrow behind them. Like an old memory. Unknowingly, she reached up to where her Autobot symbol once was and brushed her digits along the cracks and slashes that covered the insignia: a sign of recognition from the faction. All their insignias were in such condition now...

"Just be careful, Bombay. I'm not willing to have you jeopardize everyone just for a chance of revenge." He knew the femme would not take his words to her spark, but it was better than nothing. He turned to the rest of his team. "Now, let's begin."

Bombay rolled her optics again, but dipped her helm to hide her own sadness. She had loved Hipontah more than she ever let on and she seeked to avenge her death by offlining Bloodfire, the very Decepticon who had done the job in the first place. The area calmed down as several holograms popped up in front of them.

Prowl watched Rodimus explain the reasoning of their gathering as well as their newest task involving information Arcee had downloaded after the two of them had infiltrated the Autobot base. What lay in front of them were early development plans for a prototype that apparently had the ability to travel up to 2 cycles in either the past or future, something that could give the Autobots a large advantage against them and the Decepticons.

"Apparently, the plans have been useless up until recently when a powerful energy source was discovered outside of Gygax. We have reason to believe that it could be an AllSpark fragment, but since the AllSpark was lost, it's highly unlikely." Rodimus finished and stepped back, allowing everyone to process the new information. Wheeljack then stepped up and changed the hologram to a collection of diagrams and science mumbo-jumbo.

"The plans Arcee downloaded were incomplete, but if I were ta receive more updated schematics and maybe the prototype itself, I could work on it for our own advantage. We could possibly end this war forever." The engineer explained in the simplest terms he could. Blitzwing's optic widened in realization of the plan.

"By sending somevone back to ven it started so zat it never may." Blitzwing mused, placing his servo on his chin, something that had become somewhat of a trademark for his Icy personality. Hothead would often pop up from time to time, but Random was a rare slice that everyone actually enjoyed seeing as he could put some sort of smile on everyone's faceplates. Be it either a laughing smile, a smile for his efforts or just a smile that he was with them.

"Wouldn't that cause a paradox or something?" Aluri asked, concerned about the safety of the plan. It wasn't that other plans had been more dangerous than this, but it was still a big risk to take. She looked over to Rodimus with a forever-lasting sad look in her optics. The mech seemed to return the look to her, but with a more loving feel to it. Family love that is.

"If we're careful, there won't be any disastrous results from the time trip. As long as we don't meet our past selves or reveal too much, it should be fine." Rodimus answered. Aluri smiled up at him and seemed to calm slightly from the comforting words of her father. Well, he wasn't her father-father, but Prowl only knew that Aluri was one of the first clones to be created and that it had been from Rodimus who, at first, didn't take much of a liking to her, but over time, they grew to be much like a father and daughter.

"And I can make modifications to the machine so that it can repair possible paradoxes or rips in the time stream." Wheeljack added. A couple mutters and whispers arose, knowing full well that Wheeljack wasn't known for his success at repairing or 'inventing'. "It won't blow up, for Primus' sake!"

The area became silent, but, as always, the quiet was broken by a single question, this time, from Sari: "Who's gonna go then?"

"Arcee will obviously need to go as will Prowl to get into the base, download the plans and get the prototype, but two of us will be needed for back up." Rodimus answered as he looked around for such back up. He avoided Bombay's gaze and kept going around until...

"Dinobot," The blue, silver and brown mech looked over to Rodimus. "And Bluestreak will go as back up." The silver and navy blue mech also looked over, mindlessly brushing his servos over his weapons that hung on his sides. Dinobot pulled his mouth plates into a grin of sorts. Though he didn't say a word, it was easy to know what he was thinking.

As the small team began to elaborate on a plan, Sari looked on from below on the table. Her blue eyes glanced at each individual 'bot until they came upon Rodimus. She had seen the look in his optics when he was picking the back up group. He knew that she would do very well on such a mission, but it was best not to raise an argument with Prowl at that time. The cyber-ninja was very against Sari doing missions he thought too dangerous for her, concerned for her vulnerability as a techno-organic out in the battlefield. Sari knew he was thinking best for her, but she'd just wish he'd stop acting so much like...like a dad to her sometimes.

But it was also the fact that she was the only original member of the team he still had with him. The two had been through so much together during the long years of war and they didn't want to lose any more of their family. They were all they had left.

Sari trusted Prowl, though they would disagree on a lot of things. And like she trusted Prowl, she trusted Rodimus on the plan, but why did she have a pit-burning feeling in the wells of her spark that she was going to lose someone, but yet, not...at the same time?

She guessed that she would just have to wait.

**0XX0**

Getting inside the base unnoticed?

Simple.

Getting around the base, downloading plans, stealing the prototype and getting out, all unseen?

Not so simple.

With a large majority of the clone army out battling and dying for a once noble cause, the small group of rebels had easily sneaked into the Autobot base and were currently creeping around the hallways, silent as ever. The four of them said not a word as blood-curling screams and yells echoed around them from mechs and femmes being processed and then sent out to battle: Their punishment for voicing their pain. Prowl's own scarred servo sent out a burst of pain with each new scream.

The cyber-ninja looked back on his brother, Arcee and Dinobot behind him as they stood at a junction in the hallway. He nodded and they nodded back, saying they were ready as ever. Prowl pointed to a corner down the hall to their right, but before anyone could move, a voice came in through their private .

_'Isn't the lab around the_ left _corner?'_

All 'bots, sans Prowl, froze at the sound of the younger voice. (Slag, why couldn't she stay quiet?) Prowl turned around fully to face his teammates with a look of mild surprise and a hint of anger, something that rarely came from the cyber-ninja. Wasn't that voice meant to stay at the base?

"Sari!" Prowl almost shouted, but remembering the mission, kept his vocaliser on whispered anger. The techno-organic that had become his charge over the stellar-cycles popped up from her hiding place under Dinobot's brown and silver shoulder plating: perfect for someone her size. The mech she had been hiding in looked down at her on his shoulder, almost glaring.

It wasn't that he didn't like the younger femme, no. From what he had learnt about humans from those who had visited Earth, they were very much a different species, but they showed great courage and honour, something he could always admire. Sari was younger than the rest of them by a large number of stellar cycles though and she still showed signs of such youth, despite the fact that she had matured and grown wiser as an outcome of war. Though he was not a team player, Dinobot could honestly say that he would give his life if it meant it could protect someone. Be it Sari, Rodimus...maybe Swoop if he thought hard enough on it.

_' Dinobot?'_ Said mech came out of his own reality when he heard Prowl's voice come through the private . With everyone looking at him for an answer, it was evident that they had tried to get his attention with no dice...Whatever a dice was. Sari was now on Prowl's shoulder plates, having moved from her spot on Dinobot's own, where he was still staring.

_' Have you tried reasoning with her?'_ Dinobot asked Prowl, taking a wild guess on what the subject at servo had been. He had been lucky as Prowl turned his helm away to glare down at Sari who was hiding a nervous smile under her mouth plate and gave the mech a pair of pleading blue eyes.

_' What were you thinking?'_ Came the obvious question through her own installed private . Sari placed her hands on her hips and stared up at Prowl, eyes pleading no more. They weren't going to work anyway; she had tried and failed before.

_' I was thinking that I would have to save your skid plates. Again.'_ Sari now crossed her arms, but still kept her stare up at the cyber-ninja. A small sigh escaped from him before he went on with the usual speech that she had been given over a million times since joining the Rebellion.

_' I appreciate your concern, Sari, but you should worry about yourself. We'll be fine.'_ Okay, not the usual speech she had expected. Sari let out a sigh of annoyance as she looked towards the ground, let her arms drop and then snapped her head back up to look at Prowl.

_' But it's not just that! Something bad's gonna happen, I just know it.'_ A hint of sadness came to Sari's eyes, a kind of sadness Prowl had only seen when his charge had overcome her feeling of disbelief and denial over Bumblebee and Bulkhead's deaths. Was someone going to be caught during the mission? Were they to succeed?

_' Prowl, I'm picking up two energy signatures coming up close. It's too late to take Sari back now, she'll have to stay.'_ Bluestreak's voice came through the link, interrupting their conversation. Prowl moved his gaze from Sari to his brother who held a look of slight worry in his optics, one of his servos holding the rim of his hand held weapons at his side. Arcee and Dinobot gave Prowl similar looks and he held a servo to his aching processor. Primus, he hadn't felt such an ache since he was found by Bumblebee and Bulkhead long, long ago.

_' Fine, but I'll have a word with two somebodies when we get back. Sari, hide under my armour.'_ The young techno-organic seemed to beam at the news of her staying, but was forced to celebrate under Prowl's large shoulder armour as he led the team down the left hallway silently. However, twin shadows appeared to them, forcing their halt.

And nowhere to hide.

**0XX0**

The owners of the two shadows, Jetfire and Jetstorm, turned the corner with scanners of high alert and optics peering at every possible place around them, every wall and every tile. The twin brothers, now older, but not that much wiser, had been upgraded much during the war and somewhat resembled their Decepticon counterparts (but, then again, it was hard to make out any differences between the two factions) but still held their own individuality as they often showed with their combined mode, Safeguard. And, now, they sported fresh scars on their right servos as well as deep, gaping punctured holes that covered their left forearms.

The twins were also unique for another reason, aside from their ability to combine, fly and elemental powers. They weren't like most of the other Autobots, for they were clones, copies of the originals with barely a single difference. The brothers were unique because they were a couple of the few Originals left in the Autobot base; the rest had either perished in battle or they had been processed...and didn't make it.

Both Jetfire and Jetstorm had never been processed before (thus explaining their new scars), but they had seen and heard it enough before to know the damage. They knew mechs and femmes who had passed onto the Well of Allsparks because of processing, but they were forced to stand aside and keep their silence. They couldn't stop it lest they be sent on a suicide run, deep in Decepticon territory. Maybe even in the rumoured Rebellion lands.

They had heard much about the Rebellion, that they were criminals against the Autobot cause, allies of the Decepticons and vicious murderers. They didn't wish for this war to end, they only wanted more death. The Autobots would've stopped them long ago, but they eluded them. It was impossible to track them back to their base, wherever it was. The Rebellion also twisted the processors of Autobots, manipulating them and making them turn against their own faction.

That had become the sad end for Optimus Prime and his team.

As they walked down with no words said, careful of watching optics and listening audios hidden, they came across a large console attached to the wall, nothing out of the norm. Just as he passed the console, Jetstorm stopped and turned his helm around. That sound was not of the norm...

"Brother?" The visor-wearing twin asked as he looked around. His orange armoured brother stopped also and turned around to face Jetstorm, feeling a worrying beat through their twin bond. Jetfire followed Jetstorm's gaze to the console and then gave him a confused look.

"What is being the matter, brother?" Jetstorm slowly took his optics away from the large console a step behind him and, though his visor hid it, gave Jetfire a more comforting look.

"It be nothing, brother. Just processor tricks." The two shared a smile before Jetfire started walking ahead, beckoning Jetstorm to follow. Said twin quickly caught up with Jetfire before they ran side by side down the hallway.

"Hurry, brother! We must report to Longarm sir!" Their voices echoed, as did their footsteps until they too came to be one with the silence. Several sighs of relief broke in as the console flickered away, revealing Dinobot, Arcee and Bluestreak hiding behind Prowl and his own hologram projector that sat on the ground in front of them.

The four spread out as Sari came up from under Prowl's armour and peeked around, curious as to what was going on, but regretted it when she almost slipped out of her hiding place as Prowl picked up his old hologram projector. Thankfully, she didn't let loose a squeal of surprise.

_' Be careful. Sari. We're almost there.'_ Sari nodded slightly as she slipped back into her hiding place. She felt each step and tremor as Prowl moved closer to their destination with the rest of the group. She looked up through the gap she almost fell through and watched the passing ceiling, lights and spots of energon, old and new. Now that she thought about it, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to come back to the Autobot base. Only bad memories and haunting nightmares were gained with each visit, each time she remembered.

Sari could still see their faces, hear their vein yelling and screaming; calling for help that was never to come. It was all pointless, but they didn't give up. They voiced their pain loud and clear, so much so that it still echoed through her head every day and every night. She remembered their motionless bodies as Prowl took her further and further away from them.

Sari wished she could've saved them, she knew that if she had the chance, she could have. The AllSpark's power coursed through her small body and she could use it. She had done it before with Prowl, not long after the team had returned to Earth following Ultra Magnus' recovery and return to leadership. She was still certain that she could've done it again.

Sari still didn't understand why Optimus had Prowl brought back. He had only told them that it was for "the greater good", but she thought it was only because the ninja-bot was being missed greatly. Of course, Prowl had been...more than mad when he was online again, but once he had a private word with Optimus, he seemed to calm down. They had tried talking to him, however, he kept his silence and his words to himself. It was quite disturbing actually...

But whatever Optimus had told him, Sari was somewhat grateful for it. Those words had let them escape the Autobot base and join the Rebellion. They had stopped her from slipping into insanity, anger, hate and all things that were wrong. She had already suffered enough from her father's death as well as her best friend's. She didn't know if she could cope with what could've been if not for Optimus' words.

Those thoughts brought certain scars to mind. Prowl and Rodimus both shared similar scars on their servos and forearms, matching those of processed 'bots she had encountered on the battlefield. Sari knew that Aluri had been the result of Rodimus' scars but she never recalled seeing or hearing of a mech or femme similar to Prowl at all. Processing was not the greatest memory to bring up, she knew that, but she was his charge, he was her guardian: they were close.

It wasn't long until Sari popped up from Prowl's armour again, not by accident this time. Pushing herself out of the gap, she slid down the cyber-ninja's arm till she came to his servo. From there, she jumped off and landed in a smaller servo belonging to Arcee.

_'You're with me, Sari.'_ Said techno-organic smiled up at the pink femme as she was carried away to a large console concealed in the shadows, apart from the glowing screens and blinking buttons. It was all that could hide them for the time being. Meanwhile, Dinobot and Bluestreak placed themselves at either side of the entrance, keeping guard and out of sight from those who would pass by, holding their weapons close in case of attack. Prowl nestled himself at another console, one next to a column of an electromagnetic force shield, protecting the machine, the prototype inside. The one he was to take.

He could barely see the technology through the bright blue shield, but, from what he could make out, it looked similar to a gas cylinder from Earth, though wider and shorter in size, silver and grey in colour as well as a selection of buttons and a panel he could only guess could be for the power source. Could it really be an AllSpark fragment? A fraction of what he had gone offline to complete?

Bluestreak glanced at his brother every few klicks at his place, watching him type various strings of code to power down the shield around the prototype that could possibly end the Clone War as he had dubbed it. The navy blue and silver mech shifted slightly in his position as he pulled his favoured hand weapon closer to himself, ready for anything that would come in his way.

_' Bluestreak!'_ Dinobot's snarling voice came through Bluestreak's private making the mech turn his helm toward the prehistoric organic based 'bot opposite him. Dinobot jerked his head to the ground and Bluestreak followed his gaze only for his dull blue optics to suddenly brighten and widen.

His foot was in the doorway.

Bluestreak snapped his helm back up at Dinobot, optics pleading for help. With his free servo, Dinobot began to instruct him to slowly move his foot back into place, but then a pair of voices came to their audios, halting their actions. The two mechs looked at each other before moving their helms towards Prowl who was hidden in the left side of the room at the console.

"What's that?" The first voice asked. Prowl slowly turned to Bluestreak and Dinobot, hiding in the shadows, and saw the looks on their faces that explained everything: they were slagged. Prowl looked over to Arcee who was still downloading with help from Sari, but the young girl had noticed what had happened. Maybe she had been right...

"I dunno. Doesn't look like anybot's I know." Everyone was looking at each other with impending doom written across their faces and shining in their optics. They were done for, and they had been so close as well. Sari brought her hands to her head and gripped hard, wanting to pull out her organic hair, but her helm stopping her. She had been right and it wasn't always a good thing.

Footsteps were heard, coming closer and closer, bringing their doomed fate to them. They all kept their optics on the doorway, ready to fight whatever came and get away to their base, their home. The mission would've been done in vain, but it was better than one of them being left behind and captured by the Autobots. Like Rodimus always said, "No 'bot gets left behind"

However, a sly grin came to Dinobot's face as he looked at each individual 'bot. They all knew what he was thinking and what he was about to do. Shouts of "Don't do it!" and "Do you want us to get slagged!" came through their private , but the blue-faced mech ignored them all and readied his blade for battle.

The footsteps suddenly stopped when Dinobot let loose a roar, burst out from his hiding place and pounced on one of the bot's, stabbing him right through his spark chamber. Dinobot jumped off the fallen mech and swung his sword at the second mech, but the 'bot jumped to the floor, dodging the weapon and letting his battle computer take over.

Bluestreak came from his hiding place, but remained at the doorway, firing his twin blasters at the swamp-green Autobot that had avoided Dinobot's attack. He was only slightly smaller than them both, but looked ready to put up a worthy fight. Dinobot also fired at the bot, but with beams from his optics, turning them electric green.

The Autobot began to make noise with each dodge and hit he gained, clanging the base walls loudly. They all knew it was a way to bring notice to the intruders and possible captives, but didn't delay in attacking and getting away.

"I've got the plans!" Arcee shouted as she pulled herself away from the console, placed Sari on her shoulder and took out her twin blades, ready to fight off the coming Autobots as well. Prowl nodded to her, allowing her to fight. He reached out his servo, letting his young charge jump onto it and then lowered it to the ground. Sari jumped off and looked up at him, listening to the thundering footsteps of more Autobots coming to their comrade's aid.

"Tell the others to get back to the base! I'll hold them off." Prowl ordered, but from the look of shock in Sari's eyes, he knew she wasn't going to accept it. He stood straight and glanced back at the console screen holding the string of codes to unlock the shield around the prototype.

"What about you?" Sari asked, almost demanding like a young, impatient child. They both knew that it was possible for Prowl to be captured and killed if left behind to fend for himself, but Sari wasn't going to let anything happen to her guardian at her watch.

"I'll meet you back at the base. I promise." Prowl looked down at Sari, giving her a small smile, telling her that everything was going to be okay and he would be all right. She trusted Prowl with her whole spark, but it wasn't everyday that Prowl's promises this big were kept. The young girl turned around, but kept her look on the mech before running towards the door and letting Prowl continue with his job.

There was now more Autobots coming and attacking, all of them most likely clones. Dinobot, Bluestreak and Arcee fought with their chosen weapons, firing, swiping and hitting each Autobot with some strikes hitting them or others around. Bluestreak noticed Sari enter the scene and quickly stood over her.

"We need to head back to base! Prowl's orders!" Sari shouted up at her three team mates, all of them hearing her clearly. Bluestreak stopped firing for a klick, snapping his helm down to Sari and then into the lab where Prowl still was. He grabbed Sari off the floor, placed her on his shoulder before firing again.

"We're not leaving my brother behind!" Bluestreak shouted, but not too loud, to the girl on his shoulder. The techno-organic knew how close the two brothers were and knew of his pain, but she also knew Prowl. He could easily evade the Autobots and get back to the base safe and sound with the prototype in hand.

_' Get back to base, NOW!'_ Prowl's voice echoed through the just as Dinobot threw a clone at two others, knocking them into the wall opposite and Arcee sliced a 'bot's two arms off. Offlining was not one of their intentions during battle (no could be sure of Dinobot though...), but that didn't mean they couldn't damage Autobots or Decepticons. Bluestreak stepped backwards and glanced into the room, at the black and gold cyber-ninja with sad optics before they closed and opened again, but with more force and determination in them.

"Fall back!" He shouted as he blasted at a couple 'bots in front of him. They staggered back slightly, but came back, their own weapons hitting at the gunner. The group began to move away from the battle and down to their escape route, all the while still firing and hitting their enemies. Being so distracted, none noticed one Autobot slip into the lab, weapon burning bright and ready to offline.

In the lab, Prowl was trying to shut down the shield with no luck. He had tried every code in his processor, but none had gotten him anywhere closer to his goal. He didn't give up though and kept typing in new strings and commands, all failing and flashing warnings at him. He needed to get through!

Behind him, the Autobot who had slipped in now had his weapon right above Prowl, ready to offline the Rebellion member and bring their number's down by one. The larger white and blue Autobot then silently began to throw down his weapon, but Prowl's optic's brightened and his legs were lifted into the air and pushed themselves with much force and power square in the surprised 'bot's chest plating. The 'bot dropped his weapon as he flew across the lab and smashed through the very console Arcee had been at cycles ago, making it spark and small explosions erupt from the machinery and Autobot that had crashed into it.

Prowl turned away from the console and looked at the shield protecting the prototype, and then down at his own servos. The back noise of battle in the hallway quieted slightly as they took notice of the damage done to the lab. What Prowl was going to do next was going to hurt, a lot. He knew it.

Only two klicks later, alarms started blaring across the entire base and everyone, Autobot and Rebellion alike, looked around, only distracted for that moment before a crash was heard as well as yells. Now where a large, clean wall once stood was a large dented and scarred wall that had a large black and green Autobot stuck to it with someone holding him there with his shoulder: Prowl!

The cyber-ninja held the prototype under his arm, the forearm of it smoking and some plates of armour melted off. His three teammates took notice of the new injury, but didn't question it. They were just glad that they had succeeded and could easily get back to base. Arcee then knocked a 'bot to the side, creating a getaway for them.

Quickly, the mechs knocked their opponents away and made their escape, maybe firing a shot or two back at the Autobots to secure that no one followed them. Arcee and Dinobot led the way while Bluestreak ran in the middle with Sari stood on his shoulder and Prowl behind him, protecting them from behind.

_' Success!'_ Came through their and they all made small celebration mentally. There was no reason to celebrate though: they still weren't out of the enemy field and needed to return to base. Shouts could be heard from behind, all heard before, along the lines of "Get them!" or " Don't let them escape!".

But, in sudden action, Prowl came to a stop and lifted the machine he was carrying to optic level, seemingly studying it. An ominous blue glow came from the panel on the machine as he stared down at it, ignoring the shouts from those around him, telling him to move and that the Autobots were catching up. He ignored it all as the glow continued to shine through the gaps of the panel.

The moment was ruined when Prowl felt a burst of white hot pain come from his back, resulting in him almost dropping the prototype and turning his helm around to see a small group of armed Autobots firing at him. Optics widened, he tucked the machine under his arm again and ran as fast as he could down the hall with the Autobots following and firing.

His comrades ran ahead of him, knowing full well that he would catch up and they would escape with as few injuries as possible, but none of them noticed the glow from the machine brighten or a single shot come upon the machine.

A series of beeps and a high-pitched squeal came from the machine as it began to glow more and more brightly until it itself was a bright white. More shots came and hit the machine as Prowl stopped running and looked down at the machine, not knowing what was happening. The others watched in horror as Prowl's optics widened in realization and he snapped his helm to them. Bluestreak felt the shock and fear through their brotherly bond and stepped forward before it broke into a run toward Prowl.

The cyber-ninja then reached out to his brother just a fraction of a klick before the squeal became a full-fledged roar and a bright blue and white energy engulfed Prowl, forcing Bluestreak, Sari and the firing Autobots to stop and shield their optics from the brightness.

"_PROWL!_" Sari screamed, like it was all she needed to do to save her guardian and friend, but yells, screams and shouts came from everyone around as the bright energy expanded and shrunk back suddenly before it imploded. Bluestreak and Sari were sent back into Dinobot and Arcee as the Autobots were sent down further away from them.

Looking back to where Prowl once stood, all four of them saw nothing but an invisible sphere of unstable energy that was to blow any moment. Dinobot pulled Bluestreak and Arcee up off the floor before taking Sari into his own servos. They all glared up at him.

"This base is going to blow any cycle! We need to get out!" Dinobot warned them, though he knew that it would be near impossible to extract Bluestreak and Sari from the grounds without Prowl. But he wasn't there, they saw it themselves.

He was gone.

"What about Prowl?" Bluestreak demanded, obviously worried about his brother's fate. A servo clutched both his weapon and the plating that covered his spark. Anger, sorrow and pain coursed through his chassis and floated through his optics as they glared at the former Predacon. Arcee didn't hold as much emotion as Bluestreak or Sari did, but she made her fury known.

"He'll be fine! We need to get back to base!" Dinobot shouted over the loud explosions, crashes, shouts of Autobots and all other background noise to the mech and femmes. More Autobot shouts became clearer and Longarm's was among them. He was furious about the intruders! The four looked back to where the unstable energy was once again brightening, ready to destroy everything in its radius. Dinobot growled before he dropped Sari into Arcee's servos, grabbed her and Bluestreak, and pulled them through the crumbling hallways and out through a hole in a wall leading to the open outdoors of their home.

With panic rushing through their systems, they transformed into their and drove at top speed with Dinobot holding onto Bluestreak whilst riding on top of him and Sari residing in Arcee's vehicle mode, processing everything that had just happened. It had all just gone by so quickly, all too fast for her to take in...

The two vehicles sped away from the Autobot base, the entire east wing of which was falling apart and crumbling to rubble, before a large gust came from behind them, pushing them forward so hard that they all came out of and into robot mode, crashed into the ground and from there watched a large sphere of pure energy, the same that had taken Prowl, disperse and spread the debris and rubble around the area.

Sudden silence fell upon them, with the exception of distant sirens and cries of fury from Longarm, and they gaped open mouthed at the scene in front of them, replaying the recent events through their processors. Slowly, they came to their feet and just stared, not caring if they were seen. He was gone...

He was really gone...

* * *

_And I have finished it! FINALLY! After 4 weeks and 16 pages of writing, I am done! Was meant to be finished before "This is Why I hate Machines" aired, but I got sidetracked (as always) and decided to wait until Endgame aired so I could change whatever I needed to to make this an AU._

_Yes, tis an AU because I brought Prowl back! I CRIED when he died during Endgame Part 2. I swear I haven't been so sad or cried so much since I watched Dinobot's death for the first time on YouTube. But, hopefully, this story will bring hope to the fandom and give you guys the opportunity to be imaginative and bring Prowl back! _

_I am now planning to continue this story, just to fill up some plot holes dug up in this chapter as well as explain my little universe to you which I can do via PM or email between chapters. I have created a very complex story line here in which there are many twists and turns. _

_I also plan to create a side-story to this which could be a prequel, I'm not too sure, but it would explain certain events leading up to this story in full detail and give you guys a proper idea of what's going on. _

_One last thing to say: Prowl is not dead, he was simply taken somewhere else. The machine just did what it was built to do. Go back and read again if you can't remember. _

_I'VE RUINED TRANSFORMERS ANIMATED!_


	2. Things Change

_Sorry for the wait! I've been busy writing other chapters for my other stuff which really needs to be updated. If you're reading More than Meets the Eye, Rise of Koh, Homeward Bound or Her Secret, I am working on them! New chapters should be out soon, I promise! _

_Anyway, please enjoy this chapter! _

* * *

**0XX0**

_We do not remember days: we remember moments._

-Unknown-

_**Dedicated to Prowl and all the true heroes that have passed.**_

**0XX0**

It was a long while until they were seen back at the base. All four of them came in silence, optics wide, full of horror and even a shiver every cycle or so. There was a rush to meet up with the group, but it all slowed down once they noticed something very wrong.

"Where's Prowl?" Rodimus asked. He took a step towards the returning four, holding the Magnus Hammer tight in his servo as fear gripped his spark for his team mate whom he had come to regard as a close friend and member of their small family.

Aluri stood next to her father as she watched her sparkmate walk towards them with a low hung head and sluggish steps. A mixture of emotions came through their bond, almost creating an aura around Bluestreak. The femme stepped away from Rodimus and came to place a servo on the saddened mech's shoulder. As soon as she did though, Bluestreak's arms wrapped around her and he held her close. Aluri tightly wrapped her own arms around Bluestreak's neck, comforting her loved one as best as she could.

Behind their leader, Wheeljack, Blitzwing, Red Alert, Swoop, Quick-Silver and Bombay stood watching the scene unravel in front of their very optics. Prowl, their trusted second-in-command and close friend, was missing from the group. None of them seemed to be in the mood to explain, especially Bluestreak and Sari, the latter on the verge of opening her floodgates.

"What happened?" Rodimus asked calmly, staying strong and keeping his emotions at bay, though he knew he would regret it later. His dark blue optics lay on Dinobot who seemed to be the least affected, but he knew it was just a façade. Dinobot wasn't the kind of bot that showed how much he really cared. The blue-faced mech looked at Rodimus with an unreadable expression as he walked over to him.

"The prototype overloaded and Prowl got caught in the energy field," Came the snarling reply. "He's gone." Rodimus' optics widened as he looked down at Dinobot. No, it couldn't be true...He couldn't be gone...

Rodimus looked around in disbelief before he placed a servo on his helm, looking down at the ground with wide optics. He didn't notice his grip on the Magnus Hammer fail and the large object fall to the ground like a redwood. No one spoke as silence overcame them and their disbelief on the matter.

"We have to find him." Came a quiet voice from Arcee's servos. Sari sat in the femme's hands with her arms around her legs, pulling her knees up to her face that was damp with tears since the techno-organic had come out of her robot mode. She stood slowly as tears built up in her blue eyes. Her arms hung helplessly at her side, like there was no reason for them to be lifted any more. Like they had lost all value.

It was then that they all noticed. Sari suddenly looked so much older, helpless and...Vulnerable. Age had finally caught up to her, and no tinkering could ever reverse it, nor any supernatural force beyond their understanding. Her once bright eyes became solemn, dull and dark, no youth or the bounce of life left in them. A small frown strained to stay on her face, fighting off whatever emotional force was breaking down her walls of sanity with the little defence she still had within her.

The techno-organic jumped off Arcee's servos with little zeal or effort and landed on the ground, sending a puff of loose dirt into the air around her. Slowly, she stood straight sluggishly and looked up at the mechs and femmes around her. Most of them gave her a look of sorrow and pity, but a select few didn't:

Bombay tried glaring but instead turned her helm away to hide herself; Rodimus gave off no emotion but Sari could see the look of understanding lingering in his dark optics and Bluestreak gave her an equal look of all understanding, sadness, pain and loss. He and Prowl were brothers, they shared a bond of great strength, but once gone, is a great gaping hole deep in one's spark.

"Sari, we'll find him, but it's going to take some time. It'll be okay." In a sudden flash, the walls and barriers broke down and Sari's tears fell faster, marking the ground beneath her. Her hands balled into fists and one came close to her face but stayed in mid-air, shaking with her rush of emotions.

"_'Okay'_? No, it's not going to be _'okay'_! I've lost _everything_ and _everyone_ I ever loved, and you expect me to think it'll be _'okay'_?" Everyone staggered backwards at her outburst. No more defences, no more restraints left to hold it down. Her voice almost trembled in her screaming words, using all the power she had left at them all.

"I've already lost him once before, and that was hard enough, but now he's gone again, you think it'll be _okay_?" Rodimus took a brave step closer and bent down on one knee in front of her small, shaking body that was almost glowing with her white-hot anger at his poor selection of words.

"Sari..."

"_No!_ You listen now! My whole family is gone; I've seen it all with my own eyes! First my dad, then my best friends, my family and now Prowl! I didn't bring him back just for me to lose him again! He's one of the greatest friends I've ever had and now he's gone for good! _Nothing's_ going to be _okay_!" With those final words, Sari let loose cries and hard sobs, and ran into the deep green foliage of their base. They all watched her leave, saying nothing either from guilt or shock.

He was their comrade, friend and brother. More importantly, he was part of what kept them from falling and he took care of Sari as her guardian. He kept her sanity close and guided her through dark times. He chased away the monsters and helped in bringing the light into their darkest hour.

They were going to find him.

They needed Prowl back.

**0XX0**

In the city of Detroit...

The late morning sun rested high in the dull orphan blue sky over the glory of the looming and towering skyscrapers that hung above the busy, hustling streets full of small organics, the rulers of their world: Humans.

It had seemed unbelievable at first that these small and weak organic creatures were dominant over the planet, even with far more powerful beasts battling them for control and machines all around that could easily subdue them once given the chance. But these humans were more intelligent than what they seemed, far more than met the eye and the optics of the visiting Cybertronians.

They had proved themselves many times in the face of danger; never backing down and showing why they were worth protecting from the Decepticons that Optimus claimed were still hiding out on Earth. Of course, with no energy signatures or evidence of their presence, Ultra Magnus ignored the claims while Sentinel dug a hole for Optimus to hide in when he had enough. The young Prime, however, never backed down and was determined to prove his theory.

And he had done that by sending two of his teammates out on patrol with Elite Guard Jazz who seemed to be the closest to believing Optimus. Prowl and Bumblebee drove nearby their superior, guiding him around the streets and teaching him Earth's ways from two opposite perspectives. The ninja seemed to enjoy both sides though and had already broken up a couple arguments between the two already.

"Are you picking up that signal?" Prowl asked as he slowed down, letting Bumblebee pass him and Jazz slow down to meet him. The yellow speeder transformed into robot mode and ran back to them as the two ninjas transformed also. Jazz fiddled with his scanners and his optics went over information his scanners presented to him on the inner side of his visor.

"My scanners are defiantly picking _something_ up. Can't say what though." Jazz's vision returned to normality as he gazed upon his fellow Autobots. Prowl was checking his scanners while Bumblebee looked up at the two with question in his youthful optics.

"Uh, guys?" Bumblebee's optics had moved away from the older mechs to the sky. He pointed to the source of his worry. "Wasn't the prediction for today, 'bright sunshine'?"

Prowl and Jazz turned their helms to where Bumblebee pointed and, in awe and shock, let their jaws drop slightly at the sight above them.

The sky had turned emerald green so suddenly, the clouds resembling a spiral and twisting around Detroit. Harsh winds began to blow around, sending any loose objects into the air, rattling open windows and rocking cars abandoned on the side of the road. The screams and shouts of humans came to their audios as a siren blared through the air.

The three of them stood still, looking around and up in the sky, watching in fear as vehicles toppled over, windows smashed into a million pieces, androids and robots were flung into the air, disappearing into the green and jet black cloud that now rumbled with thunder and flashed with white hot lightning.

"My scanners are goin' crazy!" Jazz shouted to Prowl and Bumblebee, the latter trying to hold his ground as the wind began to pick him up off the ground. Prowl, though, somehow remained calm with chaos running amok all around him.

"It's a tornado." He stated calmly, keeping a firm ground and standing completely still while now both Jazz and Bumblebee struggled to stay in one place and were holding each other down, gripping onto whatever they could.

"A _what_?" Obviously, both of them didn't know a word of what he had just said, be it either the high screaming gales or ignorance on their behalf.

"It's a natural disaster!" He shouted over the winds. Both heard, and understood, him and they nodded to him. The sky was turning black and the sun was quickly vanishing into the dark. Detroit was being plunged into indefinite darkness and there was nothing they could do.

Jazz, holding onto Bumblebee and his ground, quickly offlined his scanners as the readings became more unstable and mad. Prowl seemingly did the same before he turned his helm back to the sky that flashed an envious dark green with every lightning bolt that fired down and danced across the sky, destroying whatever was in its path.

"_Prowl, Bumblebee! What's going on?_" Optimus' concerned and slightly angered voice filtered through their comm links, full of static, buzz and unease. The storm was interfering with their comm link frequencies and making contact more difficult than it had been in the first place.

"It's a storm, Optimus! We need to head underground." Now hearing his own voice was becoming harder, even with all the background noise blocked out from his audios. He looked over to Jazz and Bumblebee, and could see the master ninja keeping a firm grip on the yellow mech who held onto Jazz's leg, keeping them both on the ground.

"_We can't now, Prowl! We're coming down to help the humans! Optimus out._" The link was cut short, turning into a babble of static before Prowl offlined it. He slowly made his way towards Jazz and Bumblebee, barely lifting his feet, as he would be taken into the air if he did so more. Prowl placed a firm servo on Bumblebee's shoulder, and then gripped onto the corner of a building nearby.

Then, in sudden action, a roar of thunder echoed and what followed it was the sounds of explosions, distant yells and screams, and gunfire that rung with death. Then, suddenly, a small sphere of energy appeared in the centre of the black storm like a bright star in the night. It let loose a shock wave that swept all over the city in a ring of pure white energy as the sphere expanded, sharing the same pure power.

Deafening roars of thunder and bolts of lightning silenced the growls of engines coming closer. The familiar vehicle modes of fellow Autobots approached them before transforming. None of them seemed to have any problems with the wind, though the two Primes had to protect their optics from the blasting wind around them.

Ultra Magnus stood like a rock: firm, unfaltering and tall just as any leader would in such a situation. He kept his worries to his own processor and withheld a strong, brave face, assuring his troops of their safety. A leader was not one to panic, he was one to stay calm and give voice to reason when hope seemed lost.

Bulkhead however was clearly the exact opposite. Worry was evident all over him: from his face right down to his chassis. The large green Autobot held Sari close to his chest plates, keeping her safe from Nature's fury and the chaos around them both. Ratchet seemed much calmer than the younger bots, but his wide, fearful optics told otherwise. It was the same look he held whenever memories of the Great War took over his processor. However, it was much different thoughts that were taking over this time.

The group made their way towards the young bot and ninjas with only Bulkhead and Ultra Magnus not struggling. Each step the other three took increased their chances of being swept away into the darkness once called the sky, much like many robots and androids already.

Jazz was the first to greet the oncoming mechs. "This is a bad scene! Transwarp signatures are off the scale!"Their superiors acknowledged his statement and nodded to him. Optimus then turned to Prowl and Bumblebee, still covering his optics.

"Are the humans safe?" Optimus asked over the noise. His two team mates looked up at him and almost rolled their optics. It was the most obvious thing their boss could ask in a situation like this! And in such a situation like this, Sentinel would grab the shovels, stick them into the ground and get ready to start digging.

"Why do you bother, _Optimus_?" The egomaniac so called mech uttered his old friend's designation with the venom of a poisonous spider. The very same spiders that drove them apart with the death of their dear friend, Elita-One. Both of the Primes were still deeply wounded from the event, but it was a wonder who had suffered all the more. "There's nothing to protect those _organics_ from!"

And for the first time in a while, Bulkhead spoke. "There's that!"

All turned their attention to where Bulkhead had indicated. The energy sphere that hung like a painting in the air began to shrink in size, giving relief to the mechs on the ground. However, panic surged through them all, even Ultra Magnus, once more as the sphere expanded outwards meaning only one thing: it was exploding.

Just as it was reaching its brink, they spotted a falling figure emerge from the energy field as if it had been thrown through from the other side. Right into the ground. And fast.

_Very_, very fast.

During those falling moments; the figure like a fireball from the heavens on a crash course, the sphere was picking up more energy and power. And yet...the winds were slowing to a breeze, so much so, Sari poked her head up from Bulkhead's servos and let the cool air brush against her face. She looked up to the sky almost immediately and let loose a "Whoa!"

They kept their optics (and eyes) skyward as the field became restless, but everything around them that had once been chaos, was now calming. Humans were returning to the streets of rubble and destruction, watching the sky also.

The energy field then glowed brightly, brighter than ever, turning the black and green clouds light again. Even moving away from the sphere! But then, something went amiss and all was not right. The humans started walking back into their homes...

Backwards.

They came back again, but their faces full of fear as they ran backwards to where they had been before. Rubble merged into the ground, flew back to where it had originated from; machines fell to the ground from the sky unharmed and worked in reverse. All the chaos, destruction, madness and bedlam that once lay around the Transformers and their Earth friend were being turned backwards.

It was as if Father Time himself was rewinding the clock of life and leaving the group of nine dumbfounded and awe-struck. Never before (nor again) had they seen so much carnage and so much ... healing.

Soon enough, the sky was shining bright once more, the glorious sun contrasting against the dull orphan blue sun and the streets full again. It was as if nothing had happened and the humans went about their daily lives. What had just happened?

None of them knew, but they certainly knew that the fallen figure had something to do with it. And they were going to find out what, one way or another.

* * *

_Yay, it's shorter than the Prologue! But, then again, I did have it planned out to be longer until at least the 'fallen figure' reveals himself at the end of a big fight. However, this chapter would've gone on forever if I had and I'm planning to make all the chapters under 10 pages. _

_Hope you like it and please review! I do have this story posted on deviantART so you can comment there if you prefer. Link is in my profile!_


	3. Malfunction

_It's been how long since the last update? Sorrysorrysorrysorry! I've been busy with this story's prequel 'Camp Fire Tales' and I'm also working on a novel so I kinda haven't been writing this chapter. SO sorry! I hope the TimeScape art on my profile will make up for it! _

**IMPORTANT! **_I just want to make it known that despite the fact that I introduced a lot of OCs in the prologue, only one or two are gonna be main characters for this story. I am aware that they turned away a lot of reviewers and I'm sorry. I don't like putting OCs in stories as main characters (I just like drawing them really), but I only do it if I can't find an official character to fill the spot. If someone can help me find characters for certain parts of the plot, I'll be forever thankful as that means no more OCs!_

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Dedicated to Prowl and all the true heroes that have passed.**

**"_So take me away, I don't mind. But you better promuse me I'll be back in time!" _**

**Back in Time, Huey Lewis and The News._  
_**

**0XX0**

Thankfully, it didn't take too long to arrive at the location of the crash. The moment they entered the scene, they could see the damage that had not been undone. While certain bots didn't give a second thought, others took a moment to let the image sink in; the pillar of thick, dark grey smoke rising from the silent crater; car alarms blaring loud and clear; the deep cracks in the road and pavement, and the surrounding buildings that threatened to crumble down into dust any second.

Any humans from the area were long gone, fortunately for Optimus. Well, except for a certain human friend of theirs...

"Bumblebee, take Sari back to base." Optimus ordered once he and the teams were in robot mode, with Sari in her best friend's servos. Immediately, the looks on their faces changed and the young leader knew he was up for an argument.

"But-!"

"No. This could be a Decepticon and Sari needs to be safe at base."

"What if you get hurt? My key-!"

"Isn't needed. We have Ratchet here for injuries. Head back to base, _now_."

Silence passed between them, the younger two glaring childishly at the Prime as they were unable to counter his reasoning. Mumbling unheard words, Bumblebee transformed into his vehicle mode once more and drove off at high speed with his human friend inside. Optimus watched them off into the distance an-

" Optimus! Are you done daydreaming?"

_Ugh... Sentinel, one day I will-!_

With a heavy sigh lifted from his vents, Optimus walked over to Ratchet whom was scanning the crater, standing just at it's rim but unable to see inside through the smoke. The rest of the mechs stood back, either for safety or to not get in the medic's way; they knew better than to annoy him.

"Picking up anything, Ratchet?" Optimus asked, looking straightforward into the slow lifting smoke. Ratchet was almost the same, but rather looking over the results of his scanning. The old mech glanced up at him, barely moving an inch.

"Nothing much, Prime. No Autobot or Decepticon signature; just a lot of transwarp..." He paused. "AllSpark energy?"

They both held a short look of surprise. "How's that possible?"

"That doesn't matter right now. What does is that we get this back to the Elite Guard ship, or at least the base."

Wait...If there was no faction energy signature, then it was neutral. But a neutral with AllSpark energy? Optimus' processor went over it several times as Ultra Magnus came over with the rest behind. The Supreme Commander had an unusual look on his face; a raised optic ridge of confusion, but Optimus wasn't paying much attention. Something wasn't right...

"Neutrals haven't been around since the Great War." It wasn't as much as a statement as it was a question to Ratchet's claims. "How can you be sure this is one of them?"

"When have I been wrong, sir?" Ultra Magnus actually took time to think the question over, but gave no reply. "Exactly."

Discussion continued, but Optimus had his processor on other things. A familiar feeling was rising in his spark. He had felt it before Megatron rose above Sumdac Tower; before Blitzwing and Lugnut arrived on Earth and long ago when he found the AllSpark. Optimus believed that the human term, 'calm before the storm' fit quite well with all of them.

And now.

**BOOM!**

The shot and hit echoed in the air! An edge of a building top crumbled to the ground and they all gazed up. A lone, dark figure hovered above the destruction.

"W-What is that?" Sentinel activated his sword and shield, trying to look brave, but failing miserably. He stared wide-eyed at the being above them. The remaining Earth team recognized the shining insignia and the glowing red optics. They were glazed over with a hate and fury only one type of bot would have.

"You've never seen one up close, have you, Sentinel?" Optimus teased despite the situation. They watched in awe as the bot dropped to the roof of the building he had blasted. His movement was cautious and slow; his animal-like features twitched every few klicks. "It's a Decepticon."

"So you were right." Ultra Magnus breathed out, just above a whisper and loud enough for the Primes to hear. Optimus shot a smug look at Sentinel who just glared back, unwilling to accept defeat from his old friend. Few moments of silence passed as the Decepticon glared down at the Autobots, computing his next actions; his elegant tail of spikes and plating twitching uneasy behind him.

Another half minute passed; each enemy drew out their weapons and the building opposite the Decepticon fell! The red optics stared as the brick walls collapsed to the ground as a whole, with a stone cold glare like winter ice.

There were no screams or yells, signifying that the humans had left the building during the storm in fear. The Autobots went into fighting stances, though Sentinel was bent on protecting the Magnus (as always). They could all sense something off about this Decepticon; none of them could tell what.

Not a second passed before the 'con jumped down from the building top and onto the street with grace, cracking the tar slightly. They could see him clearly now: a dark purple, grey and black paint job; animal-like legs and several sharp ends to his tail. But, they could also see the waves of static move over his armour and his painful, slow movement to stand up straight.

"Where is he?" His voice was deep, dark even, with a growl of impatience behind it. He glared at them all, waiting for an answer. "Where is Megatron?"

Sentinel stood forward, prepared to battle the Decepticon solo. "If we knew, we wouldn't tell you!" Everyone, but Magnus, strengthened their stances, weapons ready to hit and bring the 'con down.

"Then you are worthless to me." The Decepticon raised his servo, curled into a fist, and aimed it at them. They tensed at the sight of the energy appearing around his servo. He hesitated though, and dropped his servo to his side once more. "You are not worth wasting my energy on."

With care, the Decepticon turned away from the Autobots and walked away in large strides, aiming to blast another building.

**CLANG!**

The 'con fell forward to the ground the moment Bulkhead's wrecking ball made impact on him. The large green mech grinned as he spun his second ball into the air, dragging the first one back. However, his expression fell when the Decepticon simply stood and began to walk again, his armour sparking with the same electric waves. His movement was slower, more painful; he was even limping!

**BOOM!**

"Come face me, you coward!" And more cries came from the Decepticon, and more brick fell to the tar road. The Autobot teams tried bringing him down, on their own, in pairs; everything! The 'con only stood straight again and ignored them like bugging pests. They watched helplessly as the humans fled from the attack, unable to decipher who was the friend and who was the enemy.

They needed to stop him!

**0XX0**

"Bee, my key's glowing."

Bumblebee slowed slightly in the fast traffic and avoided the turning point to the base. "AllSpark fragment?" He asked hopefully. Anything was better than being stuck in the warehouse!

"I don't know, but it's pointing back the way we came." Sari explained in answer, watching her key tug at her neck, telling them to go back. Like...like it wanted to go back there...to the crater! "We need to go back to the crater!"

"What? Even I heard Boss-bot! De-cep-ti-con! Not safe!"

"Since when do you care about safety?"

"...Touché. Let's go!" Immediately, Bumblebee did a U-turn and sped back up the road, avoiding the oncoming cars heading their way. Whatever the key was trying to say, it was important and they needed to find out what.

**0XX0**

_Power level: low. Stasis lock engaged._

"O-Override."

_Energy depleted. Back-up reserves online._

'Ugh, where am I?' Was he still in the Autobot base? Had he been captured again? No, not again! But, he was at peace now. Had be been sent offline? No, no he hadn't. It didn't feel like...last time.

His entire self was numb, his vision was black and he could only hear distant yells and the sound of harsh battle. He was in the middle of a battlefield! Was the device safe? Yes, it was hidden away. But if he hadn't been discovered by now, there was a chance he could slip away when his power was back up.

So, Prowl waited.

**0XX0**

The Decepticon still hadn't been stopped and had destroyed almost the entire street. The humans had run from the area, and maybe the city, but a few had been injured; both minor and serious. The Autobots were out of ideas; they had tried everything they could process! They had only succeeded in slowing the 'con's movement, and making his actions more painful.

During the fights, Ratchet had picked up massive AllSpark energy waves from the Decepticon. So much so, that there was a huge build up of the energy under the 'con's armour: the source of his power.

Ultra Magnus stood tall among his Autobots, holding his Hammer tight and a scowl forever on his face. The Autobot teams faced the Decepticon, whose optics glared death and fury down at them. They themselves were injured, but not greatly (except for Bulkhead and Prowl, both who had been hit near their sparks and currently had Ratchet working away to save them); only the Magnus was unscathed - he had yet to bring true harm to the Decepticon.

"You have become thorns in my side. Time to dispose of you." The Decepticon raised his servos, joints sparking, to fire again. The aiming wasn't perfect, but it was close enough to send a couple of the bots back. The 'con sparked again and froze, taking longer each time to reboot, giving time for the Autobots to take him down. Large dents and chipping in the Decepticon's armour showed their previous efforts, but the AllSpark energy (they guessed) kept him going.

Sentinel, estimating that he had just over a minute - plenty of time! - to attack the Decepticon, held his Skyboom shield in a servo, aimed carefully and threw the shield! Like a Frisbee, it flew at the 'con with awesome speed and slashed across his chest, just above the spark casing! Red optics widened and a yell, straight from the gates of Bedlam, rang out loud!

Only seconds later, something else hit the Decepticon, but it was from elsewhere as it hit him sidewards in the shoulder, a small explosion accompanying it. The Decepticon's head snapped up towards the source, against his will and his neck joins sparked. "You again!"

At the same time, the Autobots turned their gaze. A thud came with a mech off to the side of the street. He was unfamiliar to them, but his blue optics and the dull red of an insignia still visible named him an Autobot ally. His entire silver and navy frame - with spots of red - was covered in dirt, dust and scorch marks. Several dents were visible and a large scar across his lower legs showed itself. The mech held up twin blasters, aimed at the Decepticon and ready to fire again.

But something about the mech reminded Optimus and Jazz of another bot, but who?

"That's right, NetGear. You pit-spawn, son of a glitched jackaft fragger!"

NetGear, the Decepticon, was not fazed by the mech's colourful language and simply glared back. "One of you is missing."

It was a simple statement that made the mech lower his blasters and smirk like a cocky man. NetGear gave the mech a stink eye, the first sign of confusion for the Autobots to see.

"And you know what I call it? I call it a distraction!" Before a half-klick passed, a blurred feminine figure ran at NetGear with a spear-like weapon that was slashed across his chest, parallel to Sentinel's own attack. As the figure, a golden-yellow and light maroon femme, landed away from the enemy with a certain lack of grace, the mech on the side raised his blasters and fired him.

"Yes!" The femme cheered to herself as she watched NetGear step backwards toward the opposite buildings, forced back by each blast from a mech much smaller than himself. The Autobots watched each shot pierce his armour and spark shoot out in all directions from each wound. NetGear stepped down onto one knee, protecting himself with only his forearm.

The shots stopped and all was in silence.

"Hey!" Oh, that had better now be who Optimus thought it was. In the broken moment, all optics turned to a little yellow car. One pair wasn't looking, but rather plotting... "Sari's key picked something from other here! So we came!"

The femme, not understanding the scene, turned back to her partner and enemy, but what she saw widened her optics and opened her vocals: "Blue, watch it!"

The mech took noticed of NetGear's aim to fire and didn't hesitate to jump out of the way once NetGear shot at him. He yelled out as he landed on his elbow and rolled over. The femme rushed to his side, picking up his blasters and then kneeling next to him. "Blue, you okay?"

"...No. I busted my joint again." With an able arm, the mech grabbed a blaster and shot it at NetGear again and again. One shot caught the edge of a cable connected to the back of NetGear's processor - red optics blazed with fury without patience.

The other teams noticed NetGear's unhalted readiness to attack again. Shadows rose behind him, not going far from the Decepticon - as if darkness itself was too afraid to venture far. The sun was lowering; how long had this battle been going on for?

_'In another time, the Magnus would have wasted nothing and given the Decepticon a finishing blow, ending the battle._

But this time, he didn't - he was stopped.'

Stop...Wait...

Ultra Magnus looked over to Optimus, who had gone over to help the new mech over to Ratchet who had just finished on Bulkhead and was still repairing Prowl. The femme joined Jazz and Bumblebee, looking over to Ratchet every couple seconds.

The voice was new to him, unheard of before, but he knew to not disobey - so he waited.

**0XX0**

_Prowl...Help them..._

That voice, he knew that voice. He had heard it many times before, back at base. But the name, it escaped him. He knew enough that he had to obey, with the last of his strength and energy.

Prowl had to help them.

**0XX0**

They had fought long and hard with NetGear. Even with the two new additions, they had been defeated. The Decepticon was simply too strong and powerful for them.

"First you, then Megatron."

NetGear didn't go any further. He looked behind him, into the shadows. Nothing could be seen, but NetGear could sense it. His optics narrowed and his tail twitched with every movement. Sparks flew again and his joints groaned.

A building fear rose in their sparks; they could not see what had aroused NetGear in the darkness opposite them all. Silence filled the air.

**CLANG!**

All so suddenly, NetGear was thrown backwards off the ground, towards the Autobots! With instinct, they split apart - all except Ultra Magnus. _Now!_

Not wasting any more time, and with great strength and power, the Magnus rushed forward! With a swing of immense power, the Hammer collided with NetGear and slammed him into the ground! The road cracked upon contact and sent a shake all around. NetGear's optics offlined and he lay still in the small crater.

Ultra Magnus stood over him, but their attention was on the shadows. The darkness thinned out and a figure could be made; bulky, quite tall; around Jazz's own height, but one thing caught the ninja's attention: the shape of the helmet.

"No way..."

'_Stasis lock engaged_.' The figure's knees buckled and he fell forward with a groan into the sunlight. Sari's key dimmed to a low glow and fell onto her chest again. She didn't notice; her mouth was agape, as was everybody else's. Well, almost everyone's...

"Y'know, he reminds me of someone!"

**0XX0**

It was decided that the Med Bay in the Earth base was the best place to house the bot until he came out of stasis. With help, Optimus and Bulkhead managed to transport him there. Even Ultra Magnus came along, for more personal reasons, as did the two new bots after Ratchet fixed the mech's elbow joint.

Once at base, Ratchet went straight to the Med Bay with Optimus and the bot. Meanwhile, the new bots acquainted themselves with the Elite Guard and Earth team.

"I'm Aluri." The femme introduced herself as she leant against the mech, which they now noticed was not just covered in dirt, dust, scratches, scorch marks and a scar, but also...blood? Organic mech fluid? The femme was in a more mild condition, but it was similar. Sentinel couldn't help but be disgusted by it, and so stayed away from them.

"And I'm Bl-"

"Bluestreak." Prowl, who had been silently standing next to Jazz the whole time, spoke up. Optics stared wide at the cyber-ninja. Bluestreak had the look of bewilderment on his face.

"How did you know that?" Both Aluri and Bluestreak asked. Prowl gave away a small look of surprise and disappointment, but the latter emotion was hidden behind his visor.

"You don't remember me?" The look stayed and Bluestreak scratched his helm in deep thought.

"Should I remember you?"

"Prowl? Doesn't remind you...?" Bluestreak slowly shook his head from side to side. _How could he not remember his own brother?_ The gunner and femme continued to speak with Sentinel and Ultra Magnus about the Decepticon that was now in Elite Guard custody.

"Prowl," Jazz said, just above a whisper. "How'd ya know the guy?"

"He's my younger brother." Prowl replied in the same quiet tone. Jazz held back his surprise, but his optics did widen under his visor. The black and white ninja didn't pry further, instead listening with the rest of the team to Bluestreak and Aluri, and to their tale of trying to find Cybertron for several thousand vorns. Apparently, the femme had a bad sense of direction and Bluestreak was forced to let her drive the ship half the time ("Because I owe her for helping me get off Cretomain").

Cretomain; a jungle-like organic planet a solar system away from Earth. Bluestreak had spent a majority of his life there, having not remembered his time on Cybertron. Aluri was brought online on the planet, but would not answer any more pressing questions from Sentinel about it.

Just as the Prime was about to send her off to the stockades for incompetence, Ratchet returned with Optimus, cleaning energon off his servos with a large cloth. Curious as to the bot's condition, they listened very carefully.

"I've just run some scans an' it doesn't look good. Got a load of transwarp and AllSpark energies, but I can't pinpoint where." Ratchet began with a grave tone. He looked over to Bumblebee and Sari. "His energy levels aren't rising. I'll need Sari and her key to get them back up fully. There also seems to be a lot of leaking from under all that armour, but it's impossible to remove." Ratchet then looked up at Bulkhead with an expected stare.

"Sure, I'll help, Doc-bot."

"Good." Ratchet turned to head back with Bulkhead, who took Sari from Bumblebee, and as he turned the corner, he shouted back into the main room. "Prowl, you come too!"

Prowl gave Jazz a shrug and left the room quickly to join Ratchet, Bulkhead and Sari. Once he was walking next to the medic, the ninja began to question. "How does this concern me?"

"You'll see soon enough."

**0XX0**

The moment they set eyes and optics on the bot, they saw what Ratchet was talking about. The mech, laid out on the single medical berth and wired up to scanners and some of Ratchet's equipment, looked just like Prowl, albeit, a bit older.

He was covered in battle scars, scratches and patches of dried energon and mech fluid. Only the helmet was clean, but, like the rest of his self, had a thin layer of dirt over it. The most noticeable mark was a large x-shaped scar on his right servo, as well as...bullet holes in his left forearm?

It looked like he had been through hell and back.

Prowl took a step forward, and another, and another until he was hovering above the mech's head, the helmet, he could recognize it miles away, was Master Yoketron's! It had been missing since he went offline at the dojo, a solar cycle he would never forget. Did this bot have something to do with his death? Prowl hoped not.

Remembering how Yoketron had removed the helmet himself (for Prowl to clean! Something about "wax on, wax off"), Prowl gripped the sides of the helmet and tugged gently, hearing a quiet click before slipping it off. Ratchet held the bot's head forward before it could connect back to the berth, and checked the back of it.

"This mech has certainly seen better days. Looks like the helm had been ripped apart at some stage. A good patch-up job..." Ratchet pondered as he scanned over it. Prowl stood back, fixated on his late master's helmet, as Bulkhead placed Sari atop a counter and attended to removing the armour, careful not to dent it. The ninja didn't dare glance, instead sending Jazz a message telling him to come to the Med Bay.

Moments later, said ninja appeared in the doorway and quietly came in to stand next to Prowl, who handed Jazz the helmet. "Yoketron's helmet?"

Prowl simply nodded in reply. Jazz looked over the helmet, nostalgia and a sadness filing him. He had fond memories of his master and, like many others, missed him greatly.

**CLANG!**

Optics snapped over to Sari and Ratchet. The child had a sheepish look on her face, lit up by her glowing key as she sat in Ratchet's palm, the medic owning the sheer look of surprise. The ninja's looked over the bot to see a cylinder-shaped device bleeping on the ground and glowing as bright as Sari's key.

"That's why I couldn't pinpoint it. It was in his subspace all this time!" The medic picked up the glowing device and placed it, and Sari, on the counter. Her key stopped glowing, but the device didn't. It continued to shine. A whir, clicks and a bleep. A blinding flash.

They shielded their optics, the light too bright to stare at any longer. Once it dimmed, they were opened again. Sari was just standing there, wide-eyed and tense. Jazz came to her, worried for the young organic with Prowl close behind, also deeply concerned.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Y-Yeah..." Sari turned to the ninja and he held out his servo. Immediately, she jumped onto it and held onto his digits for dear life. She stared out, not really at anything; like she had seen a ghost. Jazz looked down at her with a small frown.

"I'll take her back, Ratch'."

"Fine, but I need the key." Sari didn't hesitate to separate from her key, which was unusual for he; she rarely ever wanted to part from it. Ratchet took it and curled it in his palm, letting her leave with the two ninjas for the rec' room; the helmet left behind.

**0XX0**

Later that night, long after the Elite Guard had left, everything was quiet. Bluestreak and Aluri had made their choice of staying on the sofa in the base, either because of their interest in Earth or because they wanted to steer clear of Sentinel. It wasn't really made clear.

Every bot was in recharge inside of their respective rooms, and only every bot. A certain human laid awake in her bed, staring up at the dark ceiling; the same kind that gave her nightmares some nights. Her key was in her hands; she hadn't put it back around her yet because, in truth, what she saw in the Med Bay had scared her.

Voices had screamed, her friends had fallen, a whole world...dead.

Sari knew the bot had something to do with it; she knew it! He had the device! He knew why it had shown her such frightening things. He had to know.

Now determined, Sari put her key around her neck and slipped out of bed. Like a spy, she scaled the wall outside of her room down to the Med Bay. She wasn't worried about waking Ratchet up, he was like a rock in recharge, but she had to be careful as to not alert whoever was on monitor duty to her mission.

She could hear the muffled sound of metal against metal as she came closer to the door. It was open, probably to let Ratchet come in easily if there was an emergency. Peeking in, she could see the bot getting off the berth in the dim light. Suddenly scared again, she stayed in place, watching the mech trying to regain his balance.

"Ugh...What happened...?" He asked himself in a whisper. But Sari had heard and gasped. His head snapped up to where she was and she was too scared to run away, or even scream for help. He didn't move straight away; he placed his helmet back on his head instead.

Then he came over, kneeling down and staring down at Sari with an expression she couldn't read. A moment passed before the peace was ended.

"Sari?" She stared up at him. The voice...it was his voice. The same!

"P-Prowl?"

* * *

_Tired now. _

_Must sleep._

_Please review and check out the poll on my profile. _

_Goodnight._


	4. Rememberance

_Update month once again, my lovely readers! This was going to be much longer, but I felt it dragged on a bit so I shortened it to this. _

_An extra note: As this fic' goes on, there are gonna be less OCs. Especially in the second half of the story. Only Aluri is gonna stick around to be honest because she's kind of important to the plot._

_I am trying my best to prove that she's not a Mary-Sue, especially after the Prologue. She and Bluestreak are good friends for a LONG time before they came together. That'll be explored a bit in the next chapter and fully in Trouble on the Time Scape (which can be read on deviantART)._

_I'll also be explaining a lot of the TimeScape universe as the story goes on. I firmly believe in learning as you go on (with films, books, fanfics etc). I only explained so much in the Prologue because that's the Prologue's job - to explain as much as you can while moving the plot along. I left a lot out though so you could learn it later, where it's more important._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**Dedicated to Prowl and all the true heroes that have passed.**

_A confused soul finds no peace as he wonders_

_~wolvesandavatar._

**0XX0**

Sari was utterly confused, scared yet curious and feeling so brave. Somehow Prowl was kneeling in front of her, but she knew he was recharging in his room. She didn't say another word, watching as he looked around; like he couldn't quite see through his visor.

"When did Red Alert turn off the lights?" He didn't seem to be asking anyone, only himself, that question. Sari was even more confused now as her new expression told him.

"Red Alert?"

"Our team medic, remember? You help her and Swoop out occasionally." He turned back to her with a small smile, a shadow of a chuckle cast upon it. Prowl himself had never smiled at her, but...it was nice.

_"You should smile more!"_

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, you have a nice smile, Pa!"

"Sari, are you okay?" Her head snapped up to him. 'Prowl' was now wearing a look of concern, the smile long gone. Sari shook her head and grinned back up in reply.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He visibly relaxed, as did she, but the smile did not return. 'Prowl' stood up straight and looked around with a cautious gaze, still unable to see clearly in the darkness. "There's no one else here. They're recharging."

"I'll believe that when I see it." The black and gold mech walked away from his spot...and straight into a wall.

Falling back onto his skid plates with a soft "Oof!" 'Prowl' held his head in dear pain. However, Sari couldn't help but laugh outrageously at the accident. What made it funnier was the _victim_!

The lights suddenly exploded into life and clanging, metal footsteps echoed down the corridor from a few steps away. Instantly, 'Prowl' was back on his feet, now fully aware of his new surroundings; the look of seeing a ghost was about him - bewilderment even! When Ratchet came into full view in the doorway, Sari managed to hold down her laughter enough to listen.

"How did you get back online?" There was no reply to the medic's question. The mech only stared at Ratchet, full of fear all of a sudden. They stared each other down for a few moments. "Just stay calm an' we'll try an' explain things to ya, kid."

'Prowl', instead, ran for it.

**0XX0**

_SNIKT!_

Bumblebee jolted awake from his recharge. He rubbed his optics clear of the blurred monitor screens and looked around, not completely out of recharge just yet. The living area was empty; the conveyor belt was silent and he was alone in his seat in front of the monitors. Must have just been his processor playing tricks on him again.

"But last time that happened..." Bumblebee stiffened. Last time, Blackarachnia attacked him, Sari and Bulkhead and all organic life in Detroit had been sucked dry; including Sari! The yellow mech stood up and took out his stingers; No 'con was going to get him this time!

"_Stop!_"

"Doc bo-?" A blurred figure burst through the doorway and instantly transformed! Ratchet and Sari were quick to follow, the medic holding a servo over a gash through his vehicle front. Bumblebee jumped from his spot and fired two shots from his stingers at the vehicle mode of the bot. However, the bot was already outside, turning the corner by the fence! The shots hit a couple crates instead, just skimming by the bot.

"After him, Bumblebee!" Ratchet ordered, pointing quite dramatically in the direction of the base's main entrance. Just as the mini-bot stepped forward to transform, Sari ran out in front of him. Her eyes were enlarged with plea and something he had seen before, but could not pinpoint.

"Bumblebee, don't! Please don't hurt him." Sari pleaded. Something in her voice, on the edge of cracking, made Bumblebee glance back at Ratchet, whom was leaning on the doorframe; his servo dripping with energon bleeding from the gash like thick oil. He then looked back down at Sari and shook his head.

"Look what he did to Ratchet!"

"He didn't mean to, he's just scared!" Bumblebee looked away from Sari, trying to resist the puppy-dog pout look that she had about her at that moment. But he kept glancing back every couple klicks and eventually sighed, putting away his stingers. Sari immediately smiled and hugged Bumblebee's leg.

"Thank you, 'Bee!"

_"Doc bot!"_

"Ratchet!"

Optimus and Bulkhead came as fast as their voices echoed. Bumblebee, Ratchet and Sari looked over to them as Optimus stood by Ratchet and laid a concerned servo on the old medic's shoulder. "What happened?"

"He escaped O.P," Came Bluestreak's voice from...above? Turning their gazes upwards, the small group could see two blue dots, the gunner's optics, glaring down at them from the beams supporting the building structure. "Are you done yet? You could wake up the whole city-state with the volumes you're speaking."

"Sorry, Bluestreak." Optimus apologized while the blue and grey mech muttered something akin to 'noisy rookies'. The Prime then turned to Bumblebee with a less sympathetic stare. The young bot knew that look; he was about to be lectured, and tortured, via speech. The infamous, long and cheesy speeches of Optimus Prime! _What an honour._ "Why didn't you go after him, Bumblebee?"

Bumblebee felt all optics on him and he laughed nervously, twiddling his digits; a habit he had picked up from long megacycles of patrol in the city. He then pointed down at Sari and practically whimpered: "She wouldn't let...me?"

"Sari?" Optimus asked in his all too serious voice, raising an optic ridge at her. She, unlike Bumblebee, was not nervous and held her hands up in her own defence.

"You don't get it! Prowl was jus-!"

"Prowl was what?" The black and gold cyber-ninja asked, now standing between Optimus and Bulkhead in the doorway, sending a somewhat disapproving look at Sari from behind his visor. He had heard what had happened; she knew it.

"He was scared, he didn't know where he was!" _Oh, what am I saying?_ "He was you!" She pointed a small finger up at Prowl. Optics were raised towards the ninja, surprised and in a way, sceptical of her claim.

"How can that be? I'm right here." Looks turned to a less calmer Sari, who was trying not to become too frustrated with her giant robot friends like she had a couple of months before. The air in the whole room seemed to stiffen at the rising tension between girl and machines.

"I don't know! But I'm not lying; he was! H-He knew me; there was a Red Alert and a Swoop, and he sounded like you!"

"I don't know any Red Alert or Swoop, and a bot can be programmed to sound like another." Prowl retorted in his usual way of logic. Sari's hands curled into fists by her sides and shook, but before she could respond, Bulkhead spoke before her.

"Yeah, but no bot outside of us, the Elite Guard and some Decepticons even know about her. How could he?" There was no answer to Bulkhead's questioning. Sari smiled up at her large, green friend; he believed her! But, would the others follow suit? Optimus turned back to Sari and sighed.

"I'm not sure, Sari. It does seem far-fetched." The other mechs, apart from Bulkhead, did not speak, but they agreed in some silent vow. Sari's face fell like lead to gravity upon noticing this.

"What? Why don't you guys believe me? I'm not lying!" Sari then ran past the mech's legs and back towards her room, eyes pouring out hot tears of frustration that only a child like her could produce. The Autobots merely watched her run; Bumblebee was held back by only Ratchet's right servo on his shoulder, but once Sari retreated into her own room, he flinched away from the medic in anger.

"Why didn't you guys believe her?" Bumblebee exclaimed at the older mechs around him. Ratchet, still holding his open wound still, stepped forward with a wince in his stance and a look that did not at all convey his pain to sternly reply:

"You didn't either, Bumblebee."

"Yeah...but Bulkhead has a point! How could he have known about Sari?" Bumblebee asked in a much calmer tone, but it still had a taste of frustration at the edge of each syllable he took great care not to spit out. Optimus sighed once again and rubbed his sore helm.

"We'll have to ask him when we find him." The Prime turned to each mech in his team. "Bulkhead, you stay here with Sari, Aluri and Bluestreak. The rest of us will search the city. He can't have gone that far."

Just as they agreed to the plan and were about to transform to leave, a voice, again, from above them stopped their actions.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" A thud beside Optimus brought Bluestreak, now fully online, into their half-huddle. "I'm going with you. If what you mechs are saying is true, then I might know what he is."

"How would you know?" Came a sceptical yet curious question from Prowl to the gunner of his height. Bluestreak kept his optics away and made a half shrug with his dirt-ridden shoulders.

"NetGear, Skyfire and Sky's friend created clone engineering. Skyfire perfected it on Cretomain where I've been stuck, so I know a fair bit. When me and Aluri first met NetGear, he downloaded our knowledge of the cloning process and now the Elite Guard has access to it."

"Get to the point."

"Skyfire's friend. He helped out a lot. I heard that he went Decepticon at some point. I'm just saying that he could of given your Decepticons clone info' and they made a copy of this guy." Bluestreak jerked a thumb to Prowl standing beside him, whose look of hurt and disappointment was hidden behind his visor. His face remained neutral as always. The mechs pondered on Bluestreak's explanation; the latter half of it anyway.

"It seems reasonable, Bluestreak, but what abo-?"

"We have no time to waste!" Bluestreak stopped Optimus' words and gave the team a grin that seemed professional, mastered and all around confident at the same time. Prime nodded and transformed alongside his team, sans Bulkhead, and Bluestreak whose own transformation was slowed by his scars and the matter of the fact that he had not transformed into vehicle mode for thousands of stellar cycles.

"Autobots, roll out!"

**0XX0**

Meanwhile, in the car-scattered streets of Detroit, the time-displaced Prowl barely dodged the humans in his speeding path towards who knows where. Fear pulsed through his spark as all too familiar buildings and sights returned to him. Had he been in robot mode, Prowl would have clutched his helm.

It was all too much for him to handle.

All the memories...

_It's not possible! I can't be here; Not again!_

But as he came further into the depth of the grey city, the reality was beginning to dawn on him. There was no other way! But it couldn't be...

As a processor ache began to emerge, Prowl spotted a familiar place so clear in his mind; settled near the water of Lake Eerie that he had more than once dived into for many old reasons mumbled in his processor. With his team that he had just left behind in their old base...

_No! This is impossible; I will not accept this trick. It could be either side. Maybe I was left on the battlefield. But Sari..._

While he brooded on his situation, Prowl did not notice that he had begun to turn towards the old Detroit pier where the machines slept in stasis and the large docking ship stood untouched. Before he registered it, he was sat beside it, overlooking the lake with a weary mind and searching his limited sight for the island he spent so little time on.

Transforming into robot mode for a better look, Prowl gave a sound akin to something disapproving. "Even if this is a trick, they should still be there." Perhaps he wasn't alone here. It would be good to see a familiar face, even if it weren't real.

Without a second thought, driven by hope, fear and possibly something alien to him, Prowl jumped up onto the docking ship effortlessly and repeated the exact same actions to start the automatic ship to the island, like he had a million stellar cycles before.

_"Go there...Go..."_

Sometimes, Sari's voice wasn't the _only_ voice that invaded his thoughts.

**0XX0**

Bulkhead, left alone in the main room by the other bots, looked back down the corridor where a glimpse of light slipped under Sari's door. "Maybe I should go talk to her..."

"If you do, please do it quietly." Came a femme voice from the couch. Bulkhead looked over to see Aluri peering over the top of the couch with a smirk plastered on her face. "Y'know, you and your friends are louder than Blue is in recharge."

"Oh!" Bulkhead exclaimed in realization, suddenly becoming anxious as he would on occasion. "Did we wake you up?"

"Not you, the organic femme did. 'Sorry', was it?"

"Sari. It's a common mistake."

"Right. Sari." Aluri pushed herself up, stretched her arms and then straightened her whole chassis to stand. "Look, big guy, I'll go talk to her. You keep an optic out for your friends."

"I-I'm not sure. Sari doesn't really know you..."

"I have to listen to Bluestreak rant more than once a solar cycle all the time, big guy. I might not be the greatest of all listeners, but I've had my practise." Aluri assured Bulkhead as she walked over to him, immediately dwarfed by his immense size. A pang of nervousness hit her, but she kept it behind relaxed optics and a small smile. Bulkhead processed the thought for a few moments, staring up at the ceiling as he did so.

He then smiled. "Okay then, Aluri. If Sari starts leaking, don't worry about it; Nothing's breaking down."

Aluri let out a half-scoff, half-laugh and her smile enlarged. She then patted Bulkhead's chest piece in reassurance. "Don't worry, big guy. I think I'll be okay."

Aluri then left Bulkhead behind for Sari's room. The green mech stood alone for a moment in silence, broken only by the femme's footsteps, then he sighed and trotted over to the monitor area; scanning each screen carefully with his bright, azure optics for any sign of the mysterious look-alike.

**0XX0**

In the dim-lit streets of Detroit, each Autobot had taken a different route to search the city. It would be easy to find the escapee; there was no scanning technology for him to hide with ease. Any Cybertronian could be picked out from a car park if one looked carefully.

Jazz had joined the search when Optimus came across the ninja on patrol (outside of a nightclub, no less). The situation was quickly explained and Jazz suggested they use the Steelhaven's radars; they were much better suited for this kind of job. Optimus was hesitant, but once Ratchet came to their location, still bearing the gash the mech had given him (which had stopped leaking and the medic was now able to ignore), the young Prime became determined.

So, once the Autobots gathered, they let the Elite Guard ninja lead them to the magnificent vessel only suited for the Magnus. However, once they arrived, they found that the force field used to keep organics out was still activated. Jazz turned his comm. link on.

"Hey, S.P?" Jazz asked, confusion filtering through his strong voice. There was a distilling silence as Sentinel answered on the other end. "I brought some of O.P's team back with me an'-"

Jazz then looked up at Optimus. "He wants t' know why." Obviously, the ninja didn't want to complicate the search with Sentinel knowing the details of the escape. Or did he want to keep the team out of trouble? It was hard to tell with Jazz's straight face and visor covering expressive optics.

"Go on, Jazz. This mega-cycle can't get any worse."

**0XX0**

The sounds of the arrogant Sentinel Prime's laughter filled the long corridors of the Steelhaven. Behind him, Jazz wore a look of embarrassed shame and kept giving Optimus apologetic glances; like a puppy would when he knew that he had just done wrong; to which Optimus returned, sighing every couple cycles and trying to ignore the upcoming yell that Ratchet would soon let out.

Thankfully, upon reaching the main bridge, Sentinel silenced himself in Ultra Magnus' presence. The supreme commander had been waiting for them having heard of what had happened less than a mega-cycle ago. His old optics widened at the sight of Ratchet's deep injury, but kept quiet and professional. Just like a Magnus should.

"Do what you must to find this bot. He has a lot to answer to." It was a simple half-order that they would follow, hopefully, with ease. As the Magnus departed in favour of his quarters for a good, long recharge, the Autobots began their work with the ship's scanners.

Well, except Bumblebee.

_Why didn't I stick up for Sari? I shouldn't even be here. I should be back at base..._

"...I know where he is..." Bumblebee's head snapped over the opening of the corridor leading to the brig; where the voice had been carried from. The mini-bot glanced over at the older Autobots momentarily, all of whom remained unmoved from their jobs; still working with the scanners.

Knowing he wouldn't be missed, Bumblebee edged away to the corridor entrance then bolted down it to where the Decepticon NetGear had been locked up. Of course, with his speed, it didn't take more than two cycles to reach the laser-barred cell.

Everything slowed as Bumblebee peered into the shadowed block; the darkness seemed to follow him everywhere! In there sat NetGear; head lowered in defeat and chassis slumped in a much sorrowful way. Stasis cuffs were clamped into his forearms and his servos were still curled into fists, like he was about to attack.

Yet, something was odd about this 'con.

"What do you want, Autobrat?" NetGear hissed from the shadows of beneath his helm, like the beast his form inspired by. Bumblebee, despite his want to jeer at the Decepticon who had nearly killed them all, stayed calm and crossed his arms. Quite clearly, he was not in the mood to exchange wits.

"Where is he, Decepticon?" He felt NetGear's glared pick at his armour and pierce his spark. Bumblebee flinched when NetGear's tail twitched in his direction.

"'He'? The one who used the forbidden form on me?" The glare sharpened and Bumblebee swore he saw a smirk glisten. "The one you let run away?"

"If you're not gonna answer, then why'd you tell me?" Bumblebee burst out, the events of the solar cycle catching up to him. Quickly he checked the corridors and saw no motion. A cold chuckle escaped from NetGear's unseen mouth, but it stopped as he struggled with the oral act of icy joy. "Huh? What's wrong with you? A bit of dust in the ol' vocalizer?"

NetGear remained un-angered, though he probably didn't want to move against the stasis cuffs. "They tore it from me. I'm not going to last through the trip."

Bumblebee looked down at the armour piece where an AllSpark fragment had been kept to power NetGear (or so what Bluestreak and Aluri said about him). The armour had turned completely grey; like an offline bot. The rest of him was following, kept only at bay since once fragment still remained. The second was now in Autobot servos. Bumblebee then turned serious.

"Save me the drama, Prissy-con. Where is he?"

"Closer than you think. I have only been like _this_ for a few solar cycles, youngling; I cannot give answers you're not ready for."

…

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

**0XX0**

A knock on Sari's door alerted her to a visitor. Sari, sitting on her bed and her head buried in a pillow, groaned. "I don't wanna talk, Optimus!"

"Last time I checked, I wasn't the paper-skinny Prime." A femme popped her head into Sari's room. The young girl remembered her from the battle, and when she and the new mech stayed at base with them. It was kind of strange meeting an Autobot femme; the only Cybertronian girl Sari had really known was the creepy spider lady who had kidnapped her more than once. Sari really couldn't say she trusted her _that_ much, especially since they only came when the Decepticon did (from what she had heard).

Then again...Prowl did say that he knew the mech; Bluestripe was it? They could be okay, but she would still have to see.

"I actually came to help you." The femme stepped into the room uninvited and took up a seat on an empty patch of carpet. Sari couldn't really be bothered to tell the femme off, so she just stared up at her instead with heavy eyes. "But a couple things first. I'm Aluri."

"Hi." Sari muttered in a tone that portrayed the simple fact that she just did not care.

"Second. You're not going to leak...are you?"

"Le-? Oh, no. I'm no cry baby!"

"Good. Last, are you gonna be as dramatic and flashy as Bluestreak is?"

"That's his name?"

"Yes."

"Okay. It depends on what we talk about."

"Great, we've got that outta the way! Now," Aluri shifted her position to a more comfortable one and rested her head on a servo. "Why do you think those two mechs are the same?"

"He knew me. And...I sort knew him."

"Doesn't he live with you?"

"I-I mean, I knew the other him! I heard voices in my head and...I just knew him."

"Hearing voices in your processor is not a good sign, Sari."

"It's not like _that_, okay?"

Aluri was taken back, optics wide and stance ready to rise. Sari calmed and lowered her head. "Do you believe me?" Her voice was quiet and solemn yet...hopeful. Aluri sat down properly again and searched the ceiling with a glance of her blue optics.

"...Bulkhead _did_ have a point."

"So you believe me?" Sari's face burst out with a wide smile and her eyes glistened at her. Aluri smiled nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. The femme couldn't say she didn't completely believe the young organic, but she didn't not believe her either. How did that bot know her, anyway?

"Yeah, Sari; I believe you."

Immediately Sari attached herself to Aluri's leg, almost scaring the spark out of the femme. Almost. Aluri smiled at the sight of the happy child.

"Thank you!" Sari jumped around, joy radiating from her aura. Someone else believed her! The others would see soon; she knew they would!

**0XX0**

Just like he remembered, the ships voyage to the island was short and quick. It parked itself beside a small pier nestled on the beach and allowed the armoured Prowl to jump off and land on the sand. He slowly rose and looked around with wide, almost _frightened_, optics under his visor.

Dinobot Island looked just the same as it did before the explosion. Such a perfect imitation; Swoop would've been pleased if he were in the ninja's place. The trees were the same height; the shadows had the same depth; the bushes all had the same leaves. There were even footprints in the sand!

Prowl sighed with melancholy and a long felt nostalgic feeling. He had not seen the Dinobots together for such a long time, not since Snarl left the original three to stay with the Constructicon, Scrapper. Only Grimlock had stayed the same, positioning himself as leader of the new Dinobots on Cybertron. Sludge and Slash had been built by Perceptor and a group of his clones, given life through energy drawn from the AllSpark when it was still in one piece.

Swoop had left quite early in the war, having grown tired of Grimlock and wanting to expand his knowledge; wanting to be more than just a Dinobot. As for Snarl...no one really knew the true story, but it was rumoured that he had left Scrapper after the destruction of Iacon and was now in New Koan fighting in the gladiator ring.

**THUD. THUD.**

Prowl snapped his head up. The approaching footsteps quickened, and became louder and louder. He looked in all directions, trying to pinpoint the source, but his fear mixed with the echo messed up his scanners.

"Intrudor!"

_Oh. Fraggit._ "Dinobots..."

* * *

_10 pages? I promised myself this wouldn't happen again! This is what happens when I write new chapters in my notebooks and then type them up without my beta online. This chapter will be replaced with a better one tomorrow when my beta is online. _

_I'm going to go sleep once I've finished uploading this chapter, so I just wanna thank the guys down at Transmission Awesome (from ThatGuyWithTheGlasses in case you don't know) for keeping me awake as I typed this up. I'm gonna have an early night with my new DVDs so...please review and tell me your thoughts._

_Good night!_


	5. Dwelling

_First off, I wish to apologize in advance if anything in this chapter confuses anyone who has not read the TimeScape prequel (I don't really recommend doing so until I get some re-writes done this summer...). Second, updates here on will be delayed in comparison to the updates on deviantART (Sorry, you can't change my mind about that). Third, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter!_

_I own nothing expecept for the characters Percy (he's a clone of the original Perceptor from the prequel), Aluri, Shockwave2.0, Longarm2.0 and the Simfur Temple femme. Hasbro has dibs on everything else._

* * *

**0XX0**

_ Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose" _

~ The Wonder Years.

_**Dedicated to Prowl and all the true heroes that have passed.**_

**0XX0**

Atop the roof of Midland Base, a lone mech stood staring up at the starless sky with longing, youthful optics. A dim, warm light that filled the rooftop of the entire base surrounded him. Had that light filled the sky instead, he could probably see the twin moons. It had been so long since the stars had last shined; since Hadeen had once risen over the clouds and fog every early morning..._ She loved the stars so much..._

"Blaster, sir?" Said mech flinched when he heard his name, looking over his shoulder to glance at the mini-bot standing in the doorway to the area. He smiled.

"Hey, Rewind. What's wrong?" Blaster asked. The black, white and red mini-bot stepped forward, a solemn look upon his masked face.

"Sir, we just heard the news about Main Base," Rewind stopped in his tracks, uneasy about his choice of moving toward his usually emotionally crippled commander. "I take it you heard already?"

"Yeah, I heard." There wasn't an ounce of melancholy or grief in his steady voice.

"We're sorry about your loss, sir..."

Blaster then let out a soft chuckle and turned around fully to reveal a large smirk plastered onto his face. "Rewind, buddy! We of all bots know m' dear ol' uncle doesn' go offline so easily. He'll make Longarm2.0 pay for blowin' 'im up."

_The kid's always so positive, even after all this time..._Rewind nodded and gave his own smirk from behind his mask that shined through his dull blue optics. "Sure thing, sir. We also need you down in Security; Springer wants to talk to you."

Blaster pushed himself away from the railing that seemed to almost grow like trees from the edge of the rooftop and walked over to Rewind, glancing only once back at the place where he had stood. A bot had once been beside him there...

"I'll talk t' Gramps in a klick – I've gotta see Percy and Karmen first."

**0XX0**

"Sari? Sar', please come down and have some oil." Bluestreak leant against the large tree, rubbing his digits against his forehead. The small techno-organic had ran to her guardian's tree, where they and Prowl's bondmate had once recharged centuries and centuries ago, after blowing up in Rodimus' face not long ago. There leader held no grudge, having grown used to his soldiers berating against him when times grew hard and weary on them. Her uncle was now trying to coax her down from the tree.

"Blue?" The gunner turned around to see his gold and maroon sparkmate coming through the trees towards him with a grave look of sympathy. "Still trying, Hun?"

"Yeah...But she can't stay up there forever."

"And she won't." Aluri walked to his side and took his servo, intertwining her digits between his own. "Surely you understand how she's feeling, Blue..."

"Of course I do, 'Luri." Bluestreak squeezed her servo and looked her in the optics, his expression ridden with guilt and mourning. "He was my only family left."

Aluri then held up their servos and covered them with her spare one, not looking her 'mate in the optic. "Sari's lost a lot because of this war too. Though she'll never admit it, she's not as strong as she used to be. All we can do for now is wait for her to talk to us...When she's ready, Blue."

Bluestreak sighed heavily and let his servo slip away from her own as he sat down in the dirt, leaving a puff of dust that lingered above the ground for a few klicks. Aluri dropped to her knees beside him, placing a gentle servo on his arm and giving him the best look of comfort she could muster. Neither of them had the will power to bring peace to the other. Too much had happened too soon...

"I'm trying, 'Luri. I really am, but there's only so much I can do." The couple said nothing more, instead embracing each other in total silence as they listened to the sounds of their allies in the distances of the base.

Not too far above them, Sari had listened carefully to their conversation, grateful that her aunt had let her uncle quieten down for a few moments. She needed to think clearly, having come to the only place in the world where she ever felt safe. But now this place was full of old memories that poured salt into the wound of her sorrow. She, her Ma and her Pa had spent so much time in this old tree together, especially when times were once so much better... Happier...

Desperately, Sari threw her arms around her knees, held them up to her chest and buried her head into her thighs, trying to hold onto the distance memories and never let go.

**0XX0**

_How...depressing. I didn't even get a servo in it..._ In the far off distance of Autobot Main Base, a lone figure had watched the destruction of its East Wing and was now witnessing the Autobot clones trying to rebuild in haste._ That clone fool. Did he honestly think that he could rid himself of one of his greater enemies?_ "The fool."

In the depths of her spark, she had felt him disappear...but then come right back. He was very, very far off planet. She couldn't pin-point where, but he was out there. Somewhere.

"I will find you, Father; Then you'll _pay_."

**0XX0**

In the Midland Base, the commanding officer and his younger sister calmly walked down the winding corridors with a slow pace. The femme was finally dry of her lubricant tears and stayed close to her eldest brother. He had kept calm and neutral-faced the entire time though she caught his optics droop a few times as they usually did when he thought of certain bots or events of his past.

Now, they were going down to see Percy, their resident clone scientist also known as G5, about the incident at Main Base. They needed answers.

It never took long to get to the entrance of Percy's lab, though it was hidden in the lower levels of the base along with the Maximals. The siblings entered the lab without a word.

"Blaster, Karmen!" Immediately upon entry, Blaster and Karmen saw Percy kneeling down beside Cheetor, whom was holding himself in great pain. His fur was matted, his whole chassis shook, and his tail twitched in madness. Without a thought Karmen rushed next to Cheetor, holding him close and whispering into his cat-like audios. Blaster stayed back, in case the young techno-organic lashed out as them in beast mode.

"What's wrong with 'im?" Blaster asked as calmly as possible whilst Percy looked between him and Karmen.

"I have no idea. He keeps saying that his spark is 'going to explode'." Percy answered in his usual quiet, English demeanour. Blaster knelt next to Percy, helplessly watching his little sister try to calm the Maximal clone down. He hated being useless...

"What 'bout the others?" Blaster asked, watching static roll over Cheetor's chassis like waves of water in an all too familiar way to him. Karmen stroked her servo over his back, whispering words of compassion to him. The whirs of transformation echoed through the room, but she held him tighter, stopping them halfway.

"Nothing, sir. Cheetor's the only one." Percy replied, avoiding his superior's optics like they were poison.

"What can we do?" Blaster queried, optics never moving from his sister.

"At the moment, absolutely nothing."

**0XX0**

In the far reaches of Cybertron's barren wilderness, where the ground was clear and the evidence of battle had long been covered; where towns and small settlements had once been rooted, but destroyed long ago; where an ancient city long forgotten by the hands of time stood in near non-existence.

Lone ruins stood idly as the far-off cries of battle carried through the audios of the offline and one more archaic than the very stones used to build the once proud temples of Simfur.

"Another solar cycle, another banter. Same old, same old...Eh, Megsy?" The blind, rusted femmes looked up into the offline optics of the motionless Decepticon leader. She stood on a step, unable to sit down due to her over-rusted joints, not far from the giant's fatal wound through his chest and chambers; where claws of betrayal had burst through and ended his life in a way less dignifying than any of his sub-co-ordinates would have allowed.

Upon receiving no answer, the femme of no name tapped her cane on the ground and looked into the distance, despite not seeing any of it. "It'll be over soon. Once he's back, it'll be over."

In silence, the femme turned around and creaked her way up the decayed steps of her temple. She knew it would all end.

And soon.

**0XX0**

"-tire East Wing of the Autobot Main Base is destroyed and the Rebellion lost their head tactician and second-in-command in the explosion."

Shockwave2.0 tapped his clawed digits together, processing the Vehicon's report carefully and pondering over possible outcomes in his far advanced mind. Other Vehicons were in the command room, watching their leader anxiously. No other Decepticon was present – they were probably hiding in any possible corner they could crawl into at this time.

Just as Longarm2.0 has his elite Autotroopers, Shockwave2.0 has his many Vehicons. And just like Longarm2.0 and his Autotroopers, no Decepticon with a single byte of sense dared interrupt Shockwave2.0 and his Vehicon's war meetings.

"We could use this to our advantage," The cold, calm, monotone voice, with a hint of an accent, breathed through his vocaliser. The Vehicons stayed silent – it was only the calm before the storm caused by a wrong world by one of them. That's how it always worked. "The loss of the tactician does not matter. The Autobot project does."

Shockwave2.0 narrowed his blank, yellow optic at his followers, watching for any sign. Of what? He kept that to himself. The Rebellion was only a bothersome _thing_ that he let his enemy deal with. They were not completely weakened without their head tactician and second-in-command – they still had their leader and the _traitorous_ Blitzwing. The one who had the very _bolts_ to defy him in favour of the long offline Megatron. He, and whoever had followed him into exile, were complete _fools_ to not see the truth.

"Continue with the report; what _was_ the Autobot project?"

The Vehicons looked at each other with as much easiness as a bot facing an Oxide Shark at the Rust Sea.

"W-We don't know, sir." A brave 'con spoke up, but hide behind his fellow bots, the will to live coursing through his energon lines with a force equal to that of a mutant giant in the Sonic Canyons and Crack.

"You _don't_ know?" The twitch of the optic. That was _always_ a bad sign. No bot answered – they were far too frightened to move in a room in which the air was as thick as outdated oil and soiled energon mixed into one substance.

Two large fists _slammed_ down onto the arms of the Supreme Commander's chair! "Then_** FIND OUT!**_"

Immediately, the Vehicons scattered over to the door and rushed out of the room, running to the corners of the base that were furthest away from their fuming leader. It was a sign to every other Decepticon to not move from whatever position they were stuck in. If Shockwave2.0 were to leave the command room, he would in no doubt offline any 'con he saw in the corner of his optic in his rage.

Even the Predacon leader Galvatron – since his predecessor's passing renamed Megatron – knew not to face the Decepticon leader at a tense time such as this. It didn't so much as fear his strength, but rather how his calculating mind alone could rip a whole platoon of bots to shreds in mere nano-clicks.

But this raging leader was processing his newfound thoughts deeply.

He had a plan.


	6. Goodwill

_This was supposed to be updated a LONG while ago when I posted this chapter on deviantART, but I somehow forgot. Oh well! Hope you enjoy this chapter now. I own nothing and Grimlock is a giant puppy. Don't you dare try to deny it._

* * *

**0XX0**

_"In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello."_

~ Joann C. Jones.

_**Dedicated to Prowl and all the true heroes that have passed.**_

**0XX0**

Blue optics met red optics; The air was filled high with the electrifying tension that sparked between the two mechs, and neither one was giving up the glaring match so easily. At least Bumblebee wasn't -NetGear looked more bored than anything through the laser bars that held his dying chassis prisoner. He didn't have much energy left to even be _bothered_ about the Autobot staring him down in the long corridor."

"The sons of the Maelstrom...Waking to the revelations of truth..." NetGear muttered, lifting his head to stare at the ceiling; ignoring the static that washed over him from the stasis cuffs. "Replaying times of old...The Lord of Time shall be victorious..."

Bumblebee, who had been sitting in the same position for so long that it would have made Prowl jealous, groaned in annoyance and jumped onto his pedes. "Why can't you make any sense, ya crazy piece of junk?"

"Yellow guy, you there?"

The yellow mini-bot sighed and turned his head down the corridor towards the main bridge. "I'm down here!"

There were a couple echoes of light footfall before Bluestreak appeared to him from around the corner that hid them so well. When the larger mech reached them, he looked down at NetGear with a glare mixed with uncertainty. The captive Decepticon paid him no heed.

"Making friends?" Bluestreak asked, slightly accusing. Bumblebee made a noise similar to a human scoff and rolled his optics in disbelief.

"Hardly. This guy knows something, but he ain't telling!" Bumblebee pointed at NetGear and glared at him in double annoyance. Bluestreak raised an optic ridge at them both, careful not to reach for his holsters where his acid pellet guns rested - The prisoner wasn't showing any signs of protest or rebuke.

"Really now?" The scarred gunner glanced over NetGear curiously, carefully analysing every detail his weary optics came across. Each one screamed at him that NetGear had changed much since his capture; That something was terribly amiss in his twisted processor...

"The mech you seek...He stalks around the corner of your optic, where you dare not try to look and he runs far from your sight," NetGear's voice strained to escape from his vocaliser; crawling out from the depths of darkness to ring through the mech's audios and leave a hint of guidance in their barren processors. "He is both far and near to the spark..."

…

"See what I mean? He's being difficult!"

"I think he's onto something..." Bumblebee blinked and stared wide-eyed at Bluestreak, whom was deeply entranced in NetGear's glare. He paid no attention to his surroundings - NetGear defiantly knew something and he was going to get some answers out of him.

**0XX0**

The whirs and clicks of transformation fell upon deaf audios as the three Dinobots burst onto the shores of their island in robot mode, their flaming weapons glowing eerie in the dark night where the moon was hidden beyond grey clouds. Upon spotting Prowl, they stopped in their tracks and Grimlock roared in his great might.

"_**Intruder!**_"

Prowl, frozen in fear of facing his friend-turned-murderous-Autobot-general in this so realistic simulation, let his jaw hang agape as words failed to escape him and reason with the combinations of code now charging at him.

_'Trust your friend...'_

Before Prowl could question the familiar voice that gave him a strange comfort, Grimlock brought his flaming sword above his head and then **slammed** it down with an unrivalled strength!

_'Back into the water!'_

As quick as his reflexes would allow him, Prowl dodged Grimlock's attack and jumped into the shallow waves of the sea water that surrounded the island, each splash of water washing away years of neglect from his pedes. The cyber ninja's vents whirred madly, his spark beat accelerated and the new, clean energon pumped with vigour through his wires. It had been a long while since he had felt so truly scared for his own life.

_'Trust them...'_

How can you be so sure? Prowl rarely questioned the advice and warnings of the voice only he could hear. It had helped him and the Rebellion throughout the war so much; It was never wrong, so he never doubted it. But now, it was asking him to do something so illogical! How could he trust a mockery of his past friendship?

_'Just trust them, friend.'_

With one last beat of his terrified spark, Prowl held up his servos, letting the dark glow of the flaming weapons reflect off his old armour, allowing the three mechs to spot him in the water. They growled deeply at him, each decibel promising a torturing attack to him. Prowl closed his optics tightly and swallowed down what little pride and logic he had left.

"**Stop!**" When he didn't feel his armour melting off, Prowl slowly opened his optics and raised his gaze from the dark water to the three warriors now staring at him from the shore. Remembering his past interactions, Prowl slowly moved forward in the water. "It's me, Cycle-bot...I'm your friend, remember?"

"Cycle-bot?" Grimlock's voice whispered as he raised his sword to engulf the ninja bot in light. The two Dinobots beside him look up at their leader for a final verdict. "Me Grimlock say you don't look like Cycle-bot!"

Prowl stopped in his tracks. Had he really changed that much? Was he unrecognisable to even his own memory that the simulation was based off? He lowered his servos slightly towards his helm. "I am Cycle-bot, Grimlock. Remember how me and Bulk-bot brought you here? When we defeated Meltdown? We even took care of the intruders not long ago!"

Prowl was becoming desperate. He was _never_ desperate for his own sake, only when his friends, allies and family were involved. But he was alone now; He only had himself to worry about. It felt strange and...refreshing.

He lowered his servos more and rested them on his master's helm and, with a heavy sigh, he lifted the helm from his own and tucked it under his arm. "See? I am Cycle-bot."

"Cycle-bot..." There were a few beats of silence, broken only by the sounds of the crackling fire weapons and washing waves. "Cycle-bot!"

Just as he was about to sigh a breath of relief, Prowl was lifted out of the water in a great, big bear hug from Grimlock. The overjoyed Dinobot didn't notice how Prowl's face was practically planted into his chest armour, or how his limbs squirmed under the dying pressure of Grimlock's delight.

"Grimlock so happy to see Cycle-bot!"

"Grimlock..." Prowl strained to talk with his face squished against Grimlock's chest armour, hearing the echoes of his excited spark. "Put me down..."

"Huh?" Grimlock took a glance down at Prowl and, with the shock of realisation, put him back down on his pedes. Thankful for being a robot that didn't require oxygen, Prowl looked over his master's helmet and put it back on when no damage was found. He stood in front of the Dinobots and couldn't help but let a small smile form on his lips at the voice being right once again.

_'Told you so...!'_

Now_ you get a sense of humour..._ Prowl resisted rolling his optics in annoyance and only crossed his arms as he thought about his next course of action. He would need to hide; find a way to escape the simulation without his captors finding out...

_'Why so persistent in rejecting the reality of this? You read the plans; I even told you before the accident!'_

Why can't you ever leave me alone? That deserves an answer. Prowl looked up at the Dinobots and then started walking towards the shadows of the forest, switching on his dim headlights. "I'll be in Meltdown's old lab."

_'You'd be lonely without me, friend.'_ Prowl hated to admit it, but...it was right. He didn't have anyone else with him, and he probably wouldn't be reunited with his team mates, Bluestreak or Sari for some time. The very thought of not being able to see them brought about a feeling despair deep in his spark. He hated it, but it was right.

As Prowl walked around each tree and bush with an earthly grace, he heard the thudding of footfall behind him and smiled again. _I don't think I'll be_ too_ lonely, 'friend'. Even if they're not real..._

'You have yet to answer the question,' It stated. Prowl slowed his pace and his smile faded away._ 'Why so eager to resist this, friend?'_

"...Because nothing that good could ever happen to me."

**0XX0**

"Where do you think he's from?"

Aluri, whom had been listening to Sari's music collection, looked over to the young Earth girl and raised an optic ridge at her. Sari was lying on her bed, curled up like a cat and staring at the phone screen that sat in her hand with a blank look. Her key, that Ratchet had returned to her, sat next to her limply.

"What do you mean, Sari?" Aluri asked slowly, a bit unsure about her question. Sari didn't move from her position.

"Is he a clone? Twin? Random guy? Time traveller? What is he?"

Aluri sighed and returned to the music. "I can't tell you that, Sari. We have to wait until the others find him."

Sari closed her phone and then her eyes, tightening herself into a ball. Her key glowed dim, going unnoticed by the girls. She could still hear those...memories. She knew they weren't really, but the felt just the same...

_"Let me GO! Blaster's dying!"_

"We can't intervene, Sari! Not with that Autobot there!"

"I don't CARE! I'm not losing anybot else!"

The voices rattled on – yelling, screaming and scratching at every corner of her mind, and she listened closely, tightening herself even more as she did so. Is this what a haunted house felt like? Filled with invisible spirits of the past with old vengeance they couldn't let go? Promising to never leave? She felt the torture; the fear. She felt what she would feel.

Aluri watched from her seated spot, and let her lips fall to a small frown. From what she learnt from Bluestreak and the Elite Guard, it wasn't the norm to have an organic pet (in fact, it seemed to be forbidden...), but she couldn't fathom any other reason why Sari would be living with Autobots and not her creator.

Back on Cretomain, everybot she knew had a creator (Bluestreak couldn't remember if he did, but then again he couldn't remember anything before the war against the organics); everything had a creator! Even the plants and the trees! Aluri herself had a creator, though they were separated and she was still waiting to reunite with him. Had that happened to Sari? Had she and her creator been stolen from each other? Was the young organic awaiting their return to her?

The femme sighed and returned to the fast-paced song about 'poking her face'. Human culture was so diverse and surreal. It was amusing to think that they had yet to have relations with Eurythma...

Nodding her head to the beat, Aluri pondered on with thoughts of Cybertron, Earth and Sari's own thoughts...

_Time traveller?...She's been watching too much of that 'TV'..._

**0XX0**

"Okay...Now _THIS_ is a crazy scene!"

The entire street laid out in front of the two cyber-ninjas had been partially destroyed by long spikes, towering spirals and the tiniest bulges of AllSpark fragments. Thankfully, only the street had been made to suffer – there were no reported human fatalities as of yet.

The glistening fragments shined in their power as Prowl and Jazz walked carefully down the road, not far from the Steelhaven where the team were most likely monitoring them (Slagging Sentinel and his crazy accusations!) . The two had been sent out after they had found sudden purges in energy signatures in the area that had somehow been able to hide from the radar until just a few cycles ago. Jazz knelt down beside a larger fragment and pulled it from the ground easily, closely examining it.

"This don't look right...Prowl, did the fragment in the factory look anythin' like this?" The black and gold mech turned away from the stunning crystal sight to his fellow Autobot with a quizzical look. Jazz held out the fragment and Prowl picked it up, looking it over before he noticed: Had this fragment been..._grown_?

The ends of the fragment were only partially complete, but not sharp and jagged like it would had they been snapped off...No, the ends were smooth and dull...

"There's only one way that coulda happened..."

He was right, as they had thought the same thing. If it were true, then maybe Prowl's own theory was too...

"Processor over matter. It's the only explanation, bro'!"

Prowl nodded. "I know...Do you think he did it?"

Jazz gazed up at him, optic ridges raised. "Did what?"

"Kill him."

_Oh..._ "Just 'cause he has the helmet?"

Prowl turned the fragment over and over in his servos, not really focusing on anything other than what he let out of his vocaliser. "It explains everything! He took on my form; managed to get to Master Yoketron; killed him, taking his helmet; took the protoforms, and used a transwarp to hide from the Elite Guard which landed him here!"

Jazz stood up and took the fragment, which now sported several cracks, from Prowl and placed a calm servo on his shoulder. "Ya _really_ been thinkin' this over, haven't ya?"

Prowl made no optic contact, keeping his gaze lowered to the side. Jazz sighed and took his servo away with a heavy spark. It was hard to believe that Prowl's grief for their master's death had not yet subsided after a million stellar cycles, but then again...He wasn't quite over it himself...

"Look, we'll find out what the deal with the guy is when we catch 'im, Prowler."

"...'Prowler'?"

"Yeah, why not?" Jazz smiled a toothy grin and Prowl sighed, rolling his optics and began to walk away from the scene. Jazz followed suit at a faster pace and passed him quickly. The motorcycle mech turned around to face the street once more and stared to the lake that shimmered in the night beyond the road's end. A lone boat floated by, sending a severely unpleasant scent in the air from the remains of the city's junk, rubbish and unwanted trinkets. The pile shifted.

"Prowler, ya comin'?" Prowl shook his head and turned back to his original path where Jazz was waiting.

"Yes...I just thought I saw something..."

"Probably nothin' but a bunch of rat-bats."

...

"Lay off the internet, Jazz – it's bad for you."

**0XX0**

Darkness surrounded him, bathing him in its resting luxury. The only light came from his red optics as they flickered open and glared at his cage; at what trapped him in this dark pit...

All he could remember was...was Megatron. Returning in full form against the Autobots..._ How can I be here? Am I offline?...No, the Well of All Sparks cannot be like this. But that fool! He...!_

A ray of light broke through the pitch black as he shifted himself around, finding his limbs lightly pinned down by...many things he could not identify. Reaching for the light, the gap spread out until there was no more shadow impairing his sight. A dark navy sky stared back at him, encircled by the bright yellow street lights that blocked out that stars.

Immediately, he sat and glanced around in haste. He was still stuck on the Primus-foresaken organic planet!_ Slaggit!_ But wait...Were the other Decepticons stuck as well? There was no way that Megatron could get back to his troops quickly without a ship, and the Nemesis was on the moon and half destroyed. Only this planet had enough resources to rebuild it...So that meant...

"That incompetent fool is still here too!" He laughed in a way that would make the Joker jealous and a-many bots run in fear. "Time for the one and only Starscream to take charge!"

Lifting himself from the junk pile, Starscream quickly transformed and sped off into the blank sky, with every intent to drive Megatron's spark into the Pit and claim his rightful place as the Decepticon leader!

**0XX0**

Deep in the innards of the Steelhaven, the 6 Autobots left behind stood in the corridor of the brig. In front of them was NetGear's open cell with the Decepticon sat inside while Ratchet scanned him over. Quiet ramblings flowed from NetGear's vocaliser as he stared at the Autobot pedes bordering him; He paid their faces no heed.

"Yup, this 'con's going offline. And I figure that the direct circuit exposure to the AllSpark fragment is causing..." Ratchet waved his servo in the air, attempting to recall the words that could fit the predicament. "this."

"He wasn't like this before, Ratchet." Optimus spoke up, tapping his chin in curiosity like a scientist pondering his newest discovery. "What could have caused such a sudden turn?"

Ratchet looked away from NetGear to give his team leader an acknowledged look. "Processor damage also had a servo in this. The shock of the bot's punch must've set something off in his processor to go from killing Megatron to a mad prophet."

"The Child shall save; the Child does not belong...Change in the rusting tides...Vengeance that never dies..."

"See?" The other mechs seemed to consider the medic's explanation, though only a couple gave it deep thought. As Bumblebee grumbled about 'fragging Decepticreeps' to no bot in particular, Bluestreak crept up to Optimus' side and looked down at NetGear.

"Can you feel it?" Bluestreak asked quietly. The two mechs crossed their arms as their optics inspected NetGear's greying chassis, his life and spark slowly leaving him for further borders in the Well of All Sparks where heedless words would never again intrude his thoughts.

"Feel what?" Optimus asked, watching as NetGear's optics flickered and twitched like faulty light bulbs running out of time. His cell was locked down again, and the other mechs left the two soldiers to their own devices, and to greet the returning cyber-ninjas with full report.

"Like we're getting ourselves into something too big for us." Bluestreak looked up at Optimus, anxiety etched into his features and the grip on his arms tightening slightly. "That mech...Something's not right about him..."

"There's something not right with _any_ of this." Optimus replied, glancing back at NetGear. He doubted Ratchet's explanation, though he dare not say it to the medic's face. Two simple fragments were powerful, but the miraculous knowledge they held was...limited. Only when the AllSpark was whole was it all-knowing and the greatest power in the universe. Like that old human saying he had heard in his Earth research...

_'Divided we are weak, but together we are strong!'_

He smirked. Oh, how wise those words were...

"You might be right, Optimus. Now, are you coming?" Optimus looked down the corridor and saw Bluestreak walking away in a steady stride, servos no longer fondling his holsters or readying his subspace. The young Prime began following, looking through the corner of his optic at the prisoner.

"What do you know...?"

"More than you think, little Orion..."

**0XX0**

The lab was just as he remembered it: Large, still and cold to the touch. Dust and cobwebs crawled around every corner, the computer screen blank and stoic while the console began decaying slowly to the rust and mould. The squeaks of bats and the songs of birds hummed down each corridor where far off memories laid.

Prowl looked around and those memories returned – Meltdown; rescuing Sari; helping the Dinobots; Waspinator; Blackarachnia...

Blackarachnia; Optimus' former friend; the first Predacon; the source of Razorclaw's old research; one of their most dangerous enemies who had sacrificed herself to save her old friends...or, at least that's what Optimus believed. Kup had been right – he really was an optimistic bot, despite what he had been through. Kup always believed that he could've gone far with that attitude. Not as far as death though.

Prowl carefully sat himself down on the end of the large berth that lay abandoned and stared up at the dark ceiling. Pressure lifted off his old gears and he groaned quietly as pain shot through his right pede, taking advantage of the luxury of solitude; In the company of others, he wouldn't of dared make his pain sound. Not even in Sari's presence. It was an old wound that had persisted to stay because of his idiocy to not listen to First Aid. The memory of gaining the scar...he didn't talk about it. To **any** bot.

_'Forgetting something, friend?'_

The cyber-ninja tactician sighed and rubbed his forehead. It wasn't hard to believe that Vector Prime helped create the AllSpark at the beginning of Cybertron's history. They both had the same nature – wise, old and all-knowing one cycle; Childish, annoying and too-friendly the next.

_What is it now?_

'Blackarachnia isn't here, friend.'

Prowl snapped his head straight and stared wide-eyed into nothing. Blackarachnia, who he remembered to have made this lab her hideout, wasn't on the island. The reports of the future incident with Meltdown only said that the Dinobots had found her after the battle with Megatron; as he had been in stasis at the time, those reports were all that he could go by. Not like Optimus would give him many details...

If the simulation was going by his memories, then she should have been there already; she should have attacked him by now; the Dinobots should have been head over heels for her and not welcomed him so warmly. Perhaps the simulation was programmed to fill in the blanks...

_'What droned machine could make you believe its lies?'_

"I am not listening to you..."_ I'll figure this out on my own._

'Look to the entrance of your dear friend.'

The cyber-ninja master looked to the other side of the lab before the sentence even finished and spotted Grimlock, in his alt. mode, poking his head into the room and staring at Prowl from deep azure optics that drew back into the corridor once he noticed that he had been seen.

"Grimlock, what is it?" Prowl asked, standing from the berth and ignoring the pain that shot through him with every step. He wasn't going to let Grimlock see it. Not ever. The Dinobot leader came forward little by little, averting his optics from Prowl's face.

"Dinobots find...uh, lady on Dinobot Island. Me Grimlock not sure if lady intruder...Lady not move...Lady pretty..." Grimlock's face immediately brightened at the thought of 'lady'. Prowl's did not.

_'Ooooh, sounds interesting~!'_

Quiet, you jinx. "Can you take me to the...lady, Grimlock?" Grimlock's optics lit up wide and he nodded zealously.

"Me Grimlock take Cycle-bot to lady!" He spun around and charged down the corridor, giving Prowl enough room to transform and race after the eager young Dinobot. There was little time to admire the morning hours as nature woke up to the mechs' intrusions through the woods and ignored them in their routine for the day ahead.

Given the island's minuscule size, it did not take long for Prowl and Grimlock to reach the golden shore where the other two Dinobots waited beside a dark figure laid in between the sands and the waves. Prowl transformed back into robot mode once his wheels touched the beach while Grimlock joined his team in alt. mode, and made his way over steadily. He could recognise the organic figure anywhere...

"Her name's Blackarachnia. She's a Decepticon; an..." An intruder? If he said that, the Dinobots would burn her to a crisp that very moment. He may have killed many bots in the past, most intentional, some not, but he had tried so hard to preserve lives; To not become like the Autobot or Decepticon soldiers that commanded genocide on the field of battle. With a single word, he could rid the simulation of such a dark shadow from his time on Earth...

But he didn't want to.

"She needs help." Carefully, and with a cautious servo, Prowl lifted the 'con femme from the ground and into his scarred arms. She was completely limp and the water had made her skin-plating freezing to his digits. The only sign she was online was the soft sound of her breathing, short and shallow. The Dinobots made no movement, only observing their friend's actions, though Grimlock did look...defensive. Their optics followed Prowl as he walked away with Blackarachnia, not moving after them until the ninja entered into the forest trees of their home.

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_Before you ask anything in a review or PM, I'll just say something quick: All questions about what the slag happened with Prowl in this chapter will be answered when Blackarachnia wakes up...Probably a chapter or two afterwards though..._


	7. Rebuilding

_Sorry for re-uploading this. Read the next chapter to understand why.  
_

_I have no excuses for how late this is. Tumblr, school, deviantART, other projects...They're the reasons, but they don't make up for the wait you've had to endure for this chapter. I hope this makes up for it, but I doubt it..._

_I own only the OCs and story, Hasbro owns everything else._

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**0XX0**

_"When one door closes another door opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us." _

~ Alexander Graham Bell 

_**Dedicated to Prowl and all the true heroes that have passed.**_

**0XX0**

The emergency didn't last too long, thankfully for everybot at Midland Base. Cheetor had been put on spark monitor, despite his protests and claim to not even **remember**the spark attack; But everyone else remembered, so now he was in their make-shift med bay without a trained medic to look after him. If only First Aid was still around...

Blaster wondered the corridors of his base, his mind running away to centuries ago. When he was much happier and with the best femme he would ever know; He remembered how they spent all solar cycle together, working 'til late in the evening sneaking in moments of love to each other without ever getting caught, and all their sacrifices. Longarm2.0 just _had_to take everybot that Blaster loved, and turn them into mere illusions of his processor. More and more they became less and less real. The memories became fake...It wasn't possible for him to ever be so happy.

Turning into his office and locking the door the moment it slid shut, Blaster held his throbbing head and then sat down. He'd always been told it wasn't good to dwell on the past, but he did it anyway. It gave him some demented, twisted form of hope; Not much, but it was there. It was still in him.

The war would be over soon...It had to; It couldn't get any worse than it already was.

They _needed_a miracle, and soon.

0XX0

The days and hours went by pretty quickly, which was quite a surprise to Prowl. With war, every klick felt like a century passing, but now...Now it felt strange. He wasn't any safer here than he was back at Centre Base. Maybe the simulation was doing this: Manipulating him to create a false sense of security and reveal the Rebellion's deepest secrets.

The Dinobots visited him occasionally while Prowl took it upon himself to look after the techno-organic Decepticon - His centuries of caring for Sari were paying off in more ways than one. Grimlock was the most frequent passer-by with Snarl, while Swoop only came in when he thought Prowl wasn't looking to check out the lab equipment hooked up to Blackarachnia. The old cyber-ninja simply chuckled each time and let Swoop explore, pretending that he hadn't noticed.

What he _did_notice, however, was when the femme began shifting on the berth and making waking noises. He watched her from a dark corner of the lab, not wishing to surprise her and make her lash out. Moments passed and, eventually, Blackarachnia stirred awake and pushed herself onto her elbows. She held her helm and then looked around, blinking several times to adjust her eyes to the lighting.

She looked around again, but saw nothing. There was no noise, no taste in the air, no scent...

Then there was a metallic thud!

A hiss did not escape, but rather a soft gasp of surprise. Prowl, cursing loudly in his processor, kept on watching as Grimlock entered the lab in his T-Rex mode, followed closely by Snarl and Swoop. "Spider-Lady okay! Me Grimlock knew Cycle-bot friend was right!"

_Oh, those idiots..._

"They're

you're_idiots though."_

Shut up already. I don't need you distracting me.

Blackarachnia, unsure of how to react to the blue-opticed dinosaur bots that had somehow saved her from the icy waters of Lake Eerie, took to readying her venom for an escape. She didn't know what they planned to do with her, but she knew an experimental lab when she saw one. She wasn't going to become a science experiment – to anybot!

"Who's Cycle-bot?" She asked, trying to distract the beast machines as best as she could. They didn't seem that bright-minded...

"Cycle-bot is Dinobot's friend! Me Grimlock help Cycle-bot when Cycle-bot trapped by fleshies!" Way to twist the two stories...Prowl couldn't help but smirk slightly at Grimlock's never-changing arrogance and blinding hubris. Then the smirk fell; It was those qualities that made Grimlock the cold murderer following Longarm2.0's command with his new team: The Dynos (Unsurprisingly, Grimlock had requested the new name...).

Blackarachnia slowly began inching towards the edge of the berth she was seated upon. "Where is Cycle-bot?" She couldn't take risks, especially in her state. She wasn't an idiot: If there was another bot around, then they could pose a threat to her escape plan.

"I wouldn't move much if I were you, Blackarachnia."

Tensing immediately, Blackarachnia spun her head around, hissing and growling like a feral animal as she searched for the source of the voice. "Show yourself!"

And surely, he did.

Stepping out from the shadows that hid themselves away from sunlight until nightfall, Prowl made himself as non-threatening as possible, but not vulnerable or defensive. That would put both of them on the edge. He saw Blackarachnia's expression under her helmet change from fringe shock to outright anger. She'd seen his old insignia, and it had set her off.

"Autobot!" She hissed. "You're not taking me!"

As fast as possible, Blackarachnia grabbed a wrench from beside the berth and threw it with deadly accuracy at Prowl's head, but it never reached its target. Instead, it hung in place just barely brushing his helm. The femme could only gape in awe as the wrench then fell to the ground, breaking the silence with its clattering.

"Processor over matter. It can be useful sometimes, Blackarachnia."

That snapped her out of her daze. "How do you know my name?"

The witnessing Dinobots watched the two carefully as Prowl slowly walked towards the femme, revealing himself more and more.

"I've read Optimus' reports about you. They're quiet interesting, though vague at points." A chair then rolled itself over to the side of the berth and Prowl sat on it, examining Blackarachnia's condition from behind his visor. So far so good...

"Optimus? You're from his space bridge crew!" Blackarachnia moved away from Prowl, spying him with all the eyes she had. He didn't budge, even with the death threat obvious in her tone. Then, she looked upon him in her scientist way, studying details that others would miss every time; It's what separated her from the rest of Megatron's band.

Before hitching a ride to Earth from Lockdown's ship, the bounty hunter had been researching Optimus Prime and his crew on the Nemesis and he had shared that information with the techno-organic without knowing. One of the crew was considerably new and trained in the arts of Circuit Su, Metallikato and whatever else cyber-ninjas learnt. Of course, the profiles included medical records and forms of ID – like images. His appearance matched almost nothing she had skimmed over. Only his paint job and parts of his armour were identical! Maybe he was somebot different...

"No, I'm from Optimus' crew...or _was_." Prowl looked to the ground as he said this, like a lost memory he didn't want to bring up.

_Oh great! Now he's a processor-reader!_

Then her curiosity peaked and got the better of her. "'Was'?"

"I'm a Neutral now." He didn't dare mention his team's deaths, or any details really. Stay vague, stay safe. Blackarachnia didn't need to know them. Only _he_did.

_"Great strategy; That'll work."_

Stay out of this.

"But I must intrude your thoughts, friend; I must inquire you this: If this were only a mind game, as you believe, why is your former enemy here?"

Because she's programmed to be.

"Then why did you find her? If simulated, then she would have been here from the start. You and her would not be here now."

Meanwhile, Blackarachnia was overlooking her carer again. He wasn't lying about his alliance: His Autobot insignia was barely there, scratched and scarred out beyond belief. It was like a sin to carry such a mark for a Neutral. Autobots and Decepticons were proud to wear their identities, except her but she didn't have much choice: Her organic half made it nearly impossible to rid her branding.

And something else she noticed: The scars. They were everywhere on his armour...He had seen some battles, ones more dangerous than those in the Great War. Her Autoboot camp sergeant, Kup, had been through the whole thing and had a few scars to tell tales of. A _few_. The wear and tear of age was present on the ninja's faceplates, sharing memories better locked away.

Soon enough, there was total silence that was eventually broken by Grimlock. "Spider-Lady okay now?"

"Spider-Lady is fine, Grimlock." Prowl inclined his head to the Dinobots, not giving Blackarachnia a chance to answer for herself. "Intruders might try hurting her though."

Immediately, Grimlock's roared high and stormed out of the lab, his lackeys following. "Me Grimlock protect Spider-Lady from intruders!"

Once the Dinobots were out of sight, Prowl visibly relaxed in his seat. Blackarachnia kept all her eyes on him, studying his changed behaviour. So when he spoke again, it took her a moment to register it. "W-What?"

"I said," Prowl repeated. "How are you feeling?"

She shot him another glare. "Why do you care?"

Prowl stiffened and stood up from the chair, leaning against his knees as he did so, she noticed. "Because I do."

Then he began to slowly walk away, with an abnormal stride, towards the entrance. Blackarachnia got off the berth, removing what wires and machinery had been plugged into her, and keeping light on her pedes as well as a good distance between them. She watched how he walked, how he held himself, what secrets he held.

"You have a limp, don't you?" She smirked slightly when he flinched off-guard and turned back to her, putting his full weight on his left pede.

"I don't-"

"Don't try lying to me, ninja. You're quite bad at it." Blackarachnia crossed her arms, waiting for what response she might receive now.

"...How?" He asked, scowling slightly at her and narrowing his optics, though she couldn't see them. How could she detect it so fast when even his closest friends and allies couldn't? Had he lowered his guard without knowing? Was the programming digging further into his processor?

"...Kup did it as well. He used to hide all sorts of wounds the exact same way." The spider femme took a step towards him but stopped mid-stride when he turned away and left the room with only his own thoughts, still hiding his scar.

_"She has a point, friend; You can't even lie to yourself."_

**0XX0**

_Happiness. That's all he could feel right now; Pure, eternal bliss. And he wasn't alone in this joy. He shared it with his dear friends...and family! They were there too! They were running, chasing each other through the Helix Gardens and trying to catch the bot holding the energon treats. They were small and sweet, just perfect for them to snack on; No wonder they were keeping up the chase for so long. Well, **they**were. He was stuck behind, leaning against a bench for support as his vents whirred madly and he tried coughing out the oil stuck in his voice processor. Then he felt a servo on his small shoulder._

"You okay, Blue?" He looked up, still coughing, at the older mech beside him and nodded slowly. "I don't believe you."

He was suddenly lifted up onto the seat of the bench and the mech sat beside him, offering him a small glowing treat. "It'll make you feel better, Blue."

He took the treat and bit into it, swallowing the oozing energon goo that spread over his voice processor and washed out the thick, unpleasant chunks of oil. He made a pleased sound and finished the treat whole.

"Thanks, big bwot-"

"Bluestreak?"

Servos flew to his blasters and he held them up to the stranger's head in the split klick it took for him to react, but he didn't have time to shoot before he recognised just who had interrupted him.

"Oh, just you..." Bluestreak returned his blasters to their holsters and relaxed into the couch, allowing Prowl to sit next to him. "Sorry 'bout that..."

"No need to apologise." The two of them sat on opposite ends of the couch, an awkward silent coming between them. "You looked...spaced-out, for lack of a better word. What were you thinking about?"

"I...I can't remember." Bluestreak closed his optics and sighed heavily. Same old processor tricks, over and over again... "It happens a lot..."

"I can tell."

"Yeah...Why aren't you out with the others?"

Prowl flinched slightly at the change of subject and glanced at Bluestreak again, seeing him give him a look he recognised as one he himself would sometimes give to Optimus from behind his visor. Nevertheless, he answered: "They didn't need me, so I stayed behind to look after Sari. Why aren't you out?"

Bluestreak threw a glance over the couch to where Sari sat, eating a sandwich with a bar of her favourite chocolate, on the communications console. He took a klick to notice that her strange key-necklace-thing was missing. She seemed quite content otherwise.

"They didn't need a gun-bot on a patrol mission..." Bluestreak turned his full attention back to the TV and saw that Prowl had changed the channel to...something green; organic...It looked sort of like Cretomain..

"It's Jungle Week on Discovery Channel." Prowl said bluntly, watching the screen also. Bluestreak only nodded and kept his optics glued to the screen, watching every Earth creature carefully.

"Hey, Prowl?"

The ninja bot looked down on the ground and saw Sari standing by his pedes, somewhat tense and cautious about nearing him. It didn't seem too strange to him; She was afraid to talk to him during the first few weeks of the Autobots being on Earth. There were often long periods of time that they barely saw each other, much less made friendly conversation, but he would be lying if he said that he didn't care for her, or felt protective of her, especially now that her father was missing.

"What is it, Sari?"

"I finished the sandwich, can I have another Choc-Cocoa Bar?" She sprawled her upper-half over his foot, giving him her biggest eyes and cutest pout. If it worked on Optimus and Ratchet, it could work on the ninja too.

"Did you eat the crusts?" She immediately dimmed.

"What? No! Crusts are disgusting!"

"Eat all of the crusts and I'll let you have two bars." The young girl lightened up and began to heavily debate the situation in her mind. Was two Choc-Cocoa Bars worth the crusts of a sandwich? Maybe she could haggle more...

"Throw in a can of Wizz Pop and you've got a deal, Ninja Man!"

Ignoring the new nickname, Prowl nodded and watched her speed away with a cheer. He smirked slightly at the thought of her discovering that there wasn't any 'Wizz Pop' left and there was one 'Choc-Cocoa Bar' stuck in the vendor, forever teasing her. It was these moments that reminded him that he was very much unchanged from his vorns back in Praxus, despite everything that had happened since. It was a nice feeling.

**0XX0**

Deep in the outskirts of Detroit, where the orphaned coal mines lay still, a small human man sat in his prison eating a hastily heated TV-tray meal that Blitzwing had been forced to steal to keep Professor Isaac Sumdac alive. The engineer scientist ate slowly, savouring each mouthful as if it was to be his last; keeping his eyes on the walking Decepticons outside his cage, forever guarding him as their leader did his own business.

**_CRASH!_**

SNIKT!

THUD!

The sudden disturbance stirred the attention of Blitzwing and Lugnut, taking them away to Megatron's side. Sumdac heard faint voices and then thundering footsteps that echoed their arrival into the area. He kept himself as hidden as he could while still watching them, keeping silent as the Decepticons dragged _Starscream's_body away! Had they killed one of their own?

It seemed so as Starscream was thrown out of the cave and into the river that flowed outside.

"Back to work, fleshbag!" Lugnut roared as he passed, pulling a yelp from the professor who immediately dropped the rest of his meal and rushed to the computer consoles.

"Double your security efforts. _Don't_let this happen again." Megatron commanded, standing tall next to Isaac's work area. Such a tower and pillar of darkness was terrifying to him.

"Yes, Lord Megatron! No bot or worthless insect shall trespass!" Lugnut cried to the heavens, receiving a dirty look from Blitzwing and an optic twitch from their leader, their oh-so-glorious leader.

"Get to work, all of you." The former gladiator turned his back on them and walked away into the shadows, leaving his soldiers and Isaac alone. Never before had the human wanted so much to run, yell, scream, lash out – escape.

But it was no use.

**0XX0**

Centre Base was silent, Quick-Silver found. As he skated around on his tyre-feet slowly and without a care, he saw his processor wondering far beyond the limits of Cybertron, back to the off-world colony he had been protoformed and trained on with the rest of his troop. It seemed so long ago, when he was young and eager to fight the Autobots for the sake of the Decepticon cause. So much had changed, and time had gone by so fast, yet so slow. There was no balance in it.

As he moved around the trees, Quick-Silver sighed and stared on, wishing he was elsewhere: Another base, another world, another galaxy, another universe. There was just too much in this base. Too much to handle. He would even swallow his pride and hide in the warehouses with the survivors, where there was no chance of being found.

But it wasn't right. They didn't deserve to pay for his selfish wishes. They were hiding from a war they didn't want to fight; the Rebellion was battling for them, keeping them safe from harm. If they went anywhere near them, there was no chance of them outliving this war. They all understood this, and accepted it.

"If only—Huh?" Quick-Silver raised his servo to his optics and gasped sharply when he saw it glowing gold – and fading. It began to spread, like a fatal disease, and Quick-Silver found himself panicking. What was happening?

He looked around hastily and spotted Rodimus further ahead, concentrating on a datapad. Instantly, he kicked his engine into gear and began speeding towards him as the glow covered his body, tearing it apart into nothingness.

"NO!" Rodimus snapped his head up to where the yell came from, but saw nothing in his view. Who had screamed? He recognised the voice, but not the emptiness it had seemingly come from, nor could he place the identity of the bot in his over-working processor.

Rodimus subspaced his datapad and walked away, forgetting everything of that bot, though not intentionally.

* * *

_I hope this chapter will be enough for apology, especially since it moves the plot forward. As for the last scene, I don't expect you to be sad over Quick-Silver's demise (especially after what happened to Breakdown this week...) and you shouldn't be really. I didn't do it for shock value or emotions, I did it to show how the plot is moving and to foreshadow later events, as well as try to explain how certain things in future chapters work. That is all._

I'll probably be working on the prequel fanfic for a while, so again no updates for some time. It's only because the next few chapters have spoilers that I don't want to give out in this fic before the prequel.

_Review and give what you can to help me improve. It'd be a big help.  
_


	8. Extra Chapter 6 Scene

_I wrote this out with the rest of the chapter, but forgot to type it up...Somehow. I can't figure out a way to put it in the chapter without messing everything up (I tried and it didn't work out, hence why I re-uploaded Chapter 6 before), but I'll put it up here for you all to enjoy on what you missed out._

* * *

__**TimeScape Chapter 6, Extra Scene**

Blackarachnia kept a close eye on him, watching for any strange behaviour or anything to give her reason to not believe his lies. Just because he was a former Autobot like her didn't mean that she was going to trust him. _Ever._

She then heard the mech sigh heavily and he turned to face her. "What's the last thing you remember, Blackarachnia?"

The question caught her off-guard and for a moment she was inclined to not answer it, but something about the way he started into her eyes pushed her to confess. "I was on that damn ship, holding the organic brat hostage when the medic took her from me and knocked me off the ship. I fell into the lake and blacked out...then I woke up here."

Trying his best not to get defensive about the femme's description of his younger charge, Prowl instead opted for looking in deep thought. Her description fit perfectly with the reports Ratchet submitted, but he couldn't be sure. He just couldn't bring himself to _believe_ that he was back on Earth. It was too good to be true...

"A more important question would be," Blackarachnia piped up, making Prowl turn his attention to her again. "What are you doing here?"

_Hiding._ "That's classified."

She didn't buy it. "Did something happen to the rest of you or what?"

_They died and I fought a in a war without them for centuries, then somehow came to Earth._ "No, they're fine..."

"You're lying." Prowl didn't flinch, but his spark certainly skipped a beat. Never had anybot been able to see past his horribly-told lies (No matter how many times he practised, he could never impress anybot on his team, or from the other bases, but the enemy didn't know what the truth sounded like so they believed him when the guilt hid behind his visor instead of showing off on his faceplates). Yet Blackarachnia could, despite what be believed about her from Optimus' perspective.

She continued. "What happened after I blacked out?"

_"You're finally believing yourself, friend."_

No I'm not.

"You always were a bad liar."

Then help me come up with something to tell her.

"How about the truth? I heard femmes like that."

I can't reveal something like that to her.

"She wasn't buying it before."

It's not just that. You of all beings should know the consequences of telling the future to the past.

"That I do, my friend, and I can assure you that nothing bad will come out of this. Make a friend at least."

How do I know you're not just saying that?

"Have I ever been wrong?"

Prowl sighed heavily again. It was one of those rare moments that he wished it was wrong. He wanted to be back. He didn't want memories. He wanted to stay. He wanted to go. So many conflicting thoughts fighting for dominance in his processor.


	9. Bonds

**0XX0**

"_The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them."  
_

_~Ernest Hemingway__  
_

**Dedicated to Prowl and all the true heroes that have passed.**

**0XX0**

**Centre Base -**

The trees and bushes of Centre Base swayed gently, not from any breeze, but from the quiet rumble of power generators and machinery that surrounded the large alcoves embedded into the rounded walls of the base where most of the soldiers now resided. Well, except for the few bots that stood in the Memorial clearing.

Arcee stood next to Dinobot, the two holding their sheathed swords by their hilts, staring up at the holograms spread out around them. Next to them were two familiar Seekers otherwise known as Skywarp and Thundercracker to their teammates, 'Traitors' to the Decepticons, 'Slagheads, 'Glitches', 'Motherboarders' to their sister Slipstream, and 'Strangers' by their 'son', Terrorsaur (he was indeed the original Starscream's clone, only in the sense that all of his first clones – Slipstream all the way down to Thrust and Ramjet – were processed, and the result came to be the one true clone of Starscream. He even went as far as to challenge the leadership of the Predacon leader, Galvatron – now called Megatron in 'honour' of his late father – just to make the connection stronger).

Back to the present, the mechs and femme gazed up at the familiar faces of bots they never really knew. Everybot knew of Optimus Prime and his team on Earth...and how they perished. And now the last of that team had joined them in the Well. However, no hologram of Prowl had been raised yet, as Sari refused to believe in his demise. A blank, empty space filled in for him instead.

Dinobot sighed, heaving his shoulders, and scowled his usual expression. With bots like the Seekers visiting from the more remote Rebellion bases, it was hard to stay collected under the new stress of not only having to hide their tracks that led straight to their front door, but also dealing with the lack of a commanding officer, head tactician and one of their best-trained warriors. Stability would not come back for a long while, if there were any to return to before the fated mission.

The former Predacon snarled and turned away, venturing down the clearing away from his teammates. Arcee took notice and was about to follow when Skywarp blocked her path. They exchanged a glance and the femme nodded. It would be best to leave Dinobot alone for now.

Said mech soon found himself in front of an old friend (though that term was used very loosely in his case) and stared up at her. It had been many centuries since Hipontah had been offlined by the mech who had corrupted her spark and sired a daughter with her: Bombay. Only he knew the smaller details such as that: He had known the two femmes since the youngest had been sparked, back when he was a mercenary with a different name. Bombay had grown up bliss in her ignorance of the truth, hiding under the impression that she had only a sister and no creators; growing bitter and cold when the truth was revealed, but having only a few klicks to acknowledge it before she too joined Hipontah in death.

He would never admit it, not to himself or others...but he missed them both terribly.

Dinobot looked up again, now staring up at the holograms of Hipontah, Bombay and Quick-Silver. Startled, he quickly spun around but saw nothing. He glanced back, seeing Hipontah's hologram alone again. _'What the...?'_

He blinked, ignoring the sting of his optics, and the set went back to normal: Hipontah and Bombay, side by side. _'No...'_

The aged warrior growled and gritted his sharp dentals as he rubbed his optics carefully with his clawed digits. When he gazed back at the holograms for the third time, Hipontah's was alone again in her corner of the clearing. His audios perked when he heard Bombay and Swoop pass by not too far from the cover of trees separating him from them. Of course she was online...

The noises faded away into immediate silence as Dinobot focused back on the holograms. Bombay was next to her mother again with Quick-Silver's not too far off. He grunted and rubbed his sore head. What had he been thinking? Hipontah and Bombay had died at Bloodfire's servos centuries ago in the same vorn that Quick-Silver had sacrificed himself to save Blitzwing from Shockwave2.0.

What had he been thinking that they were online? There was no way...

He gritted his dentals again and forced himself to relax, slowly walking away and trying to take the edge off his growing processor ache. The past was too much anymore, it was becoming clear to him now.

Nothing could change that past.

**0XX0**

**Detroit -**

Since the incident some nights ago, the street covered in 'grown' AllSpark shards had been closed off from the public to allow the Autobots to clear it up without trouble. However, there were some...issues that were making the job harder than it needed to be. For instance, the shards weren't staying in one piece.

Every time a bot made a sudden movement or held them wrong, the shards would crumble away into nothing. Only Jazz and Prowl seemed to be able to avoid this with the smaller shards because, as Jazz said, "Cyber-Ninjas are way more in tune with the AllSpark. Ya dig?"

Nevertheless, something was up. Not just with the fragments either. Ever since capturing the Decepticon and staring the search for the escaped bot, Optimus had felt the changes in the very air. He could sense that something wasn't right, especially after Magnus had shrugged it off and went back to interrogating the prisoner on his Elite Guard ship. Ratchet took more concern, but didn't act on it since no not knew anything about anything at the moment. So the team leader was left with is worries and a bucket of shards.

As Optimus went back to his work, Bumblebee stumbled over to where Sari sat on top of a stack of shards, keeping them together with her Key's power. The young girl had her legs crossed and her Key laid on her lap, her eyes never leaving its bright glow. Her best friend tapped her on the shoulder.

"How ya holding up, Sari?" Bumblebee asked as he added more fragments to the pile, making the Key glow even more. Sari barely glanced up at him. "I'm totally bored over here!"

"I'm alright, Bee."

_"Dad, what did you do to me?!_

_"Sari, please-"_

_"No! I don't want to hear anymore lies! Tell me the truth for once!"_

"Sari? Sar'?" Said girl blinked and then turned her head up to the yellow mech, ignoring the concern in his optics. "Phew! Ya blanked out for a klick there; I got worried."

She smiled softly. "Don't be, Bumblebee. Just go back to work and we can get back to the base quicker."

"Hmm...You drive a hard bargain, but okay!" He flashed her a thumbs-up and went on his less-than-merry way. Sari's smile deflated once he was far enough and she stared back at her Key. This 'memory' wasn't new. It and a few similar others had been replaying in her head for a couple days now, even when she left the Key far out of her reach. She couldn't figure out their meaning though. She wanted to talk to somebot about them, but who? She couldn't figure that out either.

**0XX0**

In the few cycles she had been online and walking again, Blackarachnia had taken to living in the lab away from Prowl and Dinobots. Thankfully those infatuated brutes were kept busy by the ninja most of the time so they rarely came down to bother her just as she never came out.

Except for those few instances where she did.

The first time was when she realised that she had no energon to feed on. Without raw energon to recharge herself with, it wouldn't be long before her organic half took over to hunt for an alternative diet. She would _not_ let that happen.

However, Blackarachnia didn't want to give up her pride either. She'd always survived on her own, but it was different now and she was stuck. She would have to ask the ninja for help if it meant her survival. So, in the late morning of that cycle, Blackarachnia emerged from the lab and into the wood. She couldn't hear the mechs anywhere close, so she went wondering.

It took longer than she had expected to locate them because, for once, they weren't sparring. When she found them, the flying mech and ninja were going through some medical tools while the two bigger brutes watched from aside. Unnerved, she strode over in confidence and stood in front of the mechs with crossed arms and a scowl. They took a moment to lift their optics up to her faceplates, Prowl standing up as he did so.

"What do you need, Blackarachnia?" He asked, raising an optic ridge. He already knew the answer, but wanted her to tell him for herself. If the programme would let her.

_"You're not giving that assumption up so easily, are you, friend?"_

_'No. I need to prove this to myself.'_

"Energon." Blackarachnia breathed out. "I need energon, Autobot."

The deepened scowls met each other as Grimlock walked over in his and sat down between them. "Cycle-bot?"

"I have a name, and it's not _**that**_." For a moment, Prowl considered calling her by her original designation found in Optimus' reports, but decided against it. There was no need to let his anger get the better of him. Even if he felt like she deserved it. Blackarachnia kept her glare up.

"I know, but it doesn't get the same attention. I need energon, and fast."

"Work on that attitude and I'll think about considering your request, Your Highness." The sound of Blackarachnia's last nerve snapping could be heard if one listened closely enough, and she looked about ready to take her revenge on him. She went to slam her pincers down on him, but before they pierced his armour, Prowl grabbed them tightly and held them back, unafraid. "On more move and I'll break you."

Grimlock, Snarl and Swoop snarled at that comment but the noises moved neither mech nor femme. Until Prowl's grip tightened, that is. Had she been fully mechanical, Blackarachnia wouldn't have felt it, but her organic half was sensitive and crippled. She didn't cry out or squirm but nevertheless she was released. Immediately, she catered to her pincers and checked for dents. Nothing that wouldn't heal overnight.

Blackarachnia then heard a thud and saw that a canister had been dropped to her pedes. She glanced back up at Prowl, questioning.

"Just because we're not allies doesn't mean you should die." Prowl returned to his seat next to Swoop. With a flick of his wrist and Processor Over Matter, he lifted the medical tools up into the air. "These need to go back before something breaks."

Blackarachnia watched the two mechs leave the wood clearing for parts unknown and kept stoic. The canister was left untouched at her feet. Could she trust him? How was she to know if it wasn't poisonous or harmful to her techno-organic body? But she needed it. Her energy reserves were so low now, she couldn't afford it. What other choice did she really have?

Slowly, she picked the canister up and twisted the lid open. A foreign scent overwhelmed her organic olfactory sensors and the sight of the thick chunks floating in the purple liquid nearly made her purge her tanks right there and then. _**This**_ was energon?! It was horrifying!

"Me Grimlock like smell." Blackarachnia hadn't even noticed the Dinobot leader hovering over her shoulder and sniffing the liquid. She didn't jump or move away from him, despite her disgust. Maybe she could test it on him first...

Before she could act, her optics caught sight of something etched into the dirt where the ninja and Dinobot had been sat before. Blackarachnia took a closer look and grimaced when she saw the Cybertronian letters clearly:

"Don't even _think_ about it."

First he was a processor-reader and now a psychic?! How the slag...What was wrong with this mech?!

Blackarachnia groaned and looked back at the canister in her servo as Grimlock and Snarl watched her with great interest. She had done stupider things in the past. Much, _much_ stupider. One of them cost her, her identity, sanity and very soul covered in organic residue. The spider then sighed heavily and quickly downed a gulp, nearly gagging when she swallowed a chunk as well. She quickly put the canister down and covered her mouth. Primus, that was...!

...Not too bad...

Blackarachnia savoured the remaining taste as she felt her power reserves fill up gradually. The energon wasn't so bad, even...enjoyable. She picked the canister up again and closed the lid surely, looking it over and inspecting the scratched metal. This couldn't be raw energon like she usually had – her systems would have rejected it instantly otherwise – so what was it?

'Sari's Energon.'

Sari? As in Sari Sumdac? The annoying organic glitch that cast her off to drown? What was she doing drinking energon of all things?

"Find something of interest?"

This time, Blackarachnia jumped and kept a grip on the canister as she spun around, ready to attack. Upon recognising Prowl she relaxed, if only a bit. Prowl crossed his arms and gave the spider femme a dirty look. "Well?"

She shoved the canister back at him. "Mind explaining _this_?"

Prowl adjusted his hold on the canister and raised an optic ridge. "It's energon made specifically for techno-organics–"

"Not that– Wait..." Blackarachnia's four optics widened and her mouth was left slightly agap. "The twerp's a techno-organic too?"

"'Twerp'?" Prowl asked before looking down at the canister and spying Sari's name. _'Oh slag...'_ How could he have been so stupid?! He should have known–

_"Hurts when you don't listen, doesn't it?"_

'Stay out of this; it has nothing to do with you."

But wait..."Everybot knows she is.."

"What?" Blackarachnia asked, smiling out of bewilderment. "How could anybot know that? She looks just like any other meatbag on this mudball."

"But..." Prowl didn't get to finish his sentence, becoming lost in his own amazement pretty quickly. Sari's genetics had never been exactly 'secret' on Cybertron. She was proud of them, and made sure that others knew it too. It had been so long since she was 'just human', he had nearly forgotten himself. Then why would Blackarachnia act surprised and bring back insignificant memories?

It didn't add up.

_"What did I say before?"_

_'That you have nothing to do with this.'_

_"Touché."_

"Autobot?" Prowl flinched slightly and stepped back from the peering spider femme.

Oh screw it. "I've told you before, I have a name. Or would you rather I play the same game, Elit..." He stopped himself deliberately upon seeing Blackarachnia's lips curl back in a dangerous snarl.

"Don't you **DARE** play that card, Autobot." Prowl crossed his arms again and glared back, just as threatening.

"Then don't play _that_ one. Deal?" She growled and stepped back, knowing she was beaten. Prowl kept glaring for an answer.

"Fine then...Prowl."

He nodded. "Blackarachnia."

And that was only the beginning.

**0XX0**

"There must be an answer, or some clue!"

In his secluded part of the wood, Starscream paced around a small clearing he had claimed as his own. He'd been doing it for a while since he had made a trail in the ground and dirt caked the bottom of his feet. Ever since landing, the Seeker had been trying to figure out what had happened to him since he had blacked out. He was sure...

"No, it's not possible..." Starscream cradled his chin and pondered more on the matter. Nothing he could think of made any sense with recent events, no matter how hard he tried to connect the dots. And he tried really hard!

One thing kept coming back to him though: Megatron had shot at him. It was all _his_ fault! He had shot to kill, obviously, and had failed on all levels. Then...that meant that he was thought of as offline. Megatron thought that he had succeeded, when he had only delayed his fate!

Starscream smirked widely and threw his arms up in the air in celebration. "Haha! Megatron will have no idea when I sneak up on him and offline him for good!"

Laughing manically, Starscream transformed and shot off into the skies, leaving behind the smallest trail of smoke. Once he found the Decepticon's hideout, he would be their glorious leader, once and for all!

**0XX0**

**Simfur Temple - **

The stone walls of Simfur stood tall and rigid in the barren wasteland of Cybertron, its only occupants being the dead that kept the Last Seer company during her daily rituals.

One of which she was doing that very klick. Inside the Temple corridors, the Seer knelt next to a newly carved wall holding a few small tools as she chipped away at the aged stone. Her expression stayed blank and still as she servos flew over every etch, every crumbling pebble, leaving her mark on co-ordinated paths her knife had engraved in the stone.

Recently, the Seer had been...experiencing the same images and sounds in her recharge, and considering how little she usually received, they were quite a surprise at first. But after a few more, she grew used to the destruction, the death, anger, revenge...

'Time Victorious'. That's what she called it, the quote taken directly from the Covenant of Primus. She couldn't recall what that chapter was about – it had been many centuries since she had last been able to read – but she knew the quote was fitting to her visions, even if it didn't make perfect sense to her right now.

It would. It would...

Eventually...

She moved herself away from the wall and moved her head around. Not like it helped much since she had no optics left. She couldn't hear anything else and her digits twitched no more. Did that mean it was over? She was done? Not completely, but for now...Yes. Yes it was.

She sighed, welcoming the comforting silence that drowned the Temple air, and grabbed her staff from the ground before making her way to what she knew would lead to the exit. The lights dimmed behind her, leaving the result of her bloody labour in the shadows. What she had seen, the very fabric of time torn apart by anger and revenge, was unlike anything she had envisioned in her lifestream.

For it had already happened.

**0XX0**

**Detroit -**

The next few times Blackarachnia approached Prowl, he had been in company of one of the Dinobots. She would normally interrogate him, trying to pry answers about Sari and her origins out of him. Every time he would answer the same: He didn't know. That was true, he had little knowledge of her true origins and his oh-so 'helpful assistant' never told him more than what he already knew. Prowl knew Blackarachnia wanted the information for her own gain; another method to try out on herself in hopes of curing what she called a curse. He would not let her harm herself so easily.

Those were only the first few times though. When Blackarachnia next came to him, Prowl was alone on a tree branch and reading over a datapad he had found in his subspace. He needed no warning of her presence, she made no attempt to hide herself. She climbed up the tree and sat on the opposite side of the trunk, invisible from his line of sight. Prowl stopped reading, waiting for her to speak up.

_"She means no harm to you."_

Prowl didn't respond. He knew he'd understand it later on. The ninja master kept his upmost focus on Blackarachnia, still waiting. After some long, silent seconds, it came.

"What happened to you?" Prowl blinked, honestly surprised for once. He turned his head, trying to see her but she avoided his optics. It was going to be one of _those_ talks.

"What do you mean?" There was a slight shift in movement and the leaves around them rustled.

"I wasn't knocked out for _that_ long." She answered bitterly. "You look like the Pit."

"I...see." If he were anybot else, he would have been greatly confused by Blackarachnia's short, vague answers. Good thing he was himself and had an aid to translate her meaning. And even so, he felt...safe. He had no looming shadow over his spark to keep him quiet of the truth anymore. Despite this, his common sense still had a strong grip. "You're right, Blackarachnia, but you'd be surprised."

Prowl subspaced his datapad and crossed his arms, ignoring the scratches and mud marks spread over them from sparring with Grimlock and Snarl. They often ended in a mud puddle and while the two giants bathed in the lake, Prowl did not bother unless he was absolutely covered. Old habits died hard, he supposed...

"Did Megatron...?"

"Not in the way you think. The truth is..." Prowl paused, letting his vents spin gently. It'd been so long since he had last said that. "I fought a war."

The leaves rustled more and the calm, dim orange of the dusk poked through the gaps between the young buds. Prowl smiled softly. This lighting was far better suited for him than the bright sunlight he had yet to accustom to again. He glanced around the tree trunk again and saw that Blackarachnia had relaxed. He then realised that so had he.

"The Great War?" Blackarachnia asked softly. Prowl shook his head, not too sure if the femme could see it.

"No, I never fought in the Great War. I...I was a draft dodger, all 10 million of those stellar cycles." The leaves shifted more. A gentle breeze flowed. "Then I found myself in something entirely different."

The breeze cooled his heated engine and the master ninja sighed again. Blackarachnia never said a word, only waiting on his. Prowl kept his head low and voice quiet. This was easier than he thought it would be.

"Where I'm from, I'm fighting the Clone War. It hasn't happened here, not yet. But it's not too far off. Cyberton is in complete ruins – the Shadow Proclamation even has our home under planetary arrest. Megatron and Ultra Magnus have been offline for centuries now, and their...'successors' are nothing less than tyrants. I'm part of a third faction, fighting for our freedom..."

Before either of them had registered it, Prowl had been talking for nearly a mega-cycle. All about the war he fought, the enemies that rose and the future Cybertron had waiting for it. Blackarachnia was completely engrossed in it; it reminded her of Kup's war stories at Autoboot Camp, where she learnt real warfare. The way Prowl spoke of battles – not with much detail but never skipping a beat – sounded so real. There was no way anybot could make it up just to entertain. No bot would dare.

Prowl had it in mind not to reveal everything he knew, but talking of his experiences with somebot listening...It was so therapeutic, it was almost impossible to hide anything but he managed. When complete darkness covered them and Grimlock's voice called for them, Prowl stopped at last.

"We're over here, Grimlock!" Thundering footfall turned their heads to the ground and soon, Grimlock popped his head up to meet their optics. The Dinobot tilted his head slightly.

"Me Grimlock wanna know what Cycle-Bot and Spider-Lady doing?" As Blackarachnia readied herself for a quick escape, Prowl just kept a small smile up and scratched Grimlock's nose.

"Cycle-bot and...Spider-Lady–" Said lady scowled at the name. "–are getting ready to recharge, Grimlock." That was partially true; Prowl never recharged. Out of necessity, out of inability to do so...

"Me Grimlock want Spider-Lady to recharge with Dinobots!" The femme almost bristled at that thought but kept herself collected. Prowl was friends with these idiots, he could help her out of this.

"I don't think she'd be comfortable recharging outside," Prowl replied, sensing Blackarachnia's unease at the suggestion. "But she'll need protection from intruders at the lab."

Grimlock grumbled. He didn't like the lab. That's where Meltdown had hurt him before, but if Spider-Lady was going to recharge there, then he'd protect her at all costs! Grimlock huffed and puffed his chest out proudly. "Me Grimlock protect Spider-Lady!"

The Dinobot then went back to ground level and charged off to give commands to his team. Prowl's gaze switched over to Blackarachnia whom let out a breath of relief.

"Just tell them that you want them to be quiet and shut the door tightly. They'll leave you alone then." Blackarachnia looked around the trunk at him before looking down.

"Don't you need a berth?" She asked as she transformed into her beast mode. Prowl shook his head.

"Haven't been on a berth in centuries. I'll be fine up here, Blackarachnia." The spider hesitated as Prowl adjusted himself into a more comfortable position, but she quickly crawled down the tree when he glanced at her again. As she slipped away into the shadows, Prowl turned up at the sky peeking through the leaves and branches. The city light was far off, leaving a completely cloudless sky painted with diamond stars and strokes of a blue nebula as far as he could see.

Prowl smiled sadly. The star fields above Cybertron used to be so beautiful, and now all the sky held was a deep blackness. Every single star – even their own sun – had blinked out of existance. The sky above him held so many memories; it was a memory. Yet, he couldn't help but think...

_'No simulation could ever capture such natural beauty...'_

_"So you're believing it now, friend?"_

_'No, I can't.'_ Prowl closed his optics and rubbed his sore helm.

_"But...you want to."_

_'More than anything else. I want to believe that we have a chance to fix everything...but I can't. Not anymore.'_

Prowl focused back to the stars and clicked his glossa as a pair of shooting stars zoomed by above. Each jewel twinkled and sparkled against the navy blue, slowly moving as the Earth did. The glowing moon joined them at the edge, smiling down on the planet below. He could at least enjoy this while it lasted.

**0XX0  
**

**Centre Base -**

Rodimus drummed his digits against the fallen tree he often called his desk, and rubbed his optics. In front of him lay the plans he and Blitzwing had formulated – without Prowl. To say the least, it had been the Pit trying to calculate and come up with every single possible situation and then find a way to avoid such events. Random had even tried, but there wasn't much he could give.

They only needed a plan to pass along to Dai Atlas in West Base in order to gain Intel. on Decepticon activity. They had been too quiet in recent orns for his liking. Most of their battles had been against the Autobots since.

The scarred leader sighed and groaned as he slowly stood up, picking up the datapads and subspacing them as he stepped through a thick bush onto a lone dirt path. Rodimus reached up to his and activated it.

"Blitzwing, Arcee and Goldbug–" Wait, Goldbug? Who was that? No, no that was stupid; Goldbug was a scout and – No, there wasn't any Goldbug...

"Sir?" Arcee's voice filtered through the , shaking Rodimus out of his train of thought. What was he thinking about...?

Right. "Arcee, Blitzwing and Bluestreak, meet me at the entrance." After a chorus of 'Yessir's, Rodmus deactivated his and hurried on his way through bushes and low-hung branches. Making a short detour, he climbed up one particular branch and plucked the infamous Magnus Hammer out from the spot he used to recharge at. Most outsiders would think that the Rebellion leader carried the Hammer with his wherever he went, but the truth was that he only took it into battle and the occasional meeting if he needed the extra push of authority.

The Hammer was only for Magnus'. Leaders of Cybertron and, once upon a time, loyal right-hand bots to the Prime. Rodimus was neither of those things – he had no real rank, having abandoned such titles with the Autobots. He was just there until the real leader came to them. If they ever did...

In just a few cycles, Rodimus came off the path and into the large clearing that surrounded the entrance to their secret base. Arcee and Bluetreak were already there, and if the thuds were anything to go by, Blitzwing would join them in just a klick. The three grounders exchanged nods.

"What'd ya need us here for, sir?" Bluestreak asked, servo cradling his favourite blaster and optics straying from Rodimus' to gaze over the tree canopies.

"We're heading to West Base." Rodimus answered curtly as Blitzwing made his entrance.

"Vhat for?"

"We need to sort slag out, bots. Our next course of action lies with Dai Atlas' base, so we'll discuss it with him." The bots nodded, not questioning the leader's words. They all knew how hard it had been recently; they knew now how much they had relied on one for all of their plans. Not such a smart move after all.

Rodimus turned to one of the bushes. "And Red Alert's in charge while we're gone!"

A distance echo of groans rang out from the bots that had been spying on the group. No bot smiled.

"Let's get going." Rodimus stated as he headed for the rock wall. Blitzwing, Arcee and Bluestreak followed him without a word as he headed through the big archway once it opened up, and once they were left in the darkness, they hurried their steps. Bluestreak thought to question why he and Arcee were joining the two commanders but thought against it when he spotted red optics on him.

With that, they headed to West Base in silence.

**0XX0  
**

Back in Centre Base, Sari was still resting in the cover of her tree. When Bluestreak got a message from Rodimus to head out, Aluri elected to let her niece enjoy her own company for a short while. Sari brushed loose strands of her dry, thin hair back behind her ear and sighed silently as she closed her eyes half-way. She was so tired, so listless, but every time she closed her eyes, flashes of memories buzzed in her vision and never left her. So few of them were happy and she hated the fear the coursed through her veins each time, so she opted to stay awake with the rest of her team.

Her eyelids dragged down but Sari did not envision a memory. No...This was new..It was Detroit! It was just as she remembered it – blue sky lightly dotted with clouds, cars and robots everywhere while the populace walked down streets calmly. Sirens ran out in the distance, lights speeding down to the blockade...

Blockade?

Then she saw it. The speeding train, the police force hopelessly chasing after it as it charged closer and closer to the stack of concrete and steel that would crash the train to a stop. At the head of the train was Bumblebee..

And her! She remembered this! It was the way they captured Starscream and the Elite Guard left Earth with him.

But, where was Optimus? Bulkhead? Ratchet? It was just her and 'Bee, but they were too close to stop now. With a swift movement, Bumblebee took Sari and jumped off the train just as it hit the block, crushing the entire front end and cracking the rest of the train beyond recognition. Screams from inside the train echoed to silence as she and 'Bee looked on, horrified. Captain Fanzone quickly arrived and began ordering his men around. However, it was cut short when they caught sight of a looming shadow growing bigger and bigger on the crash site until it ca-

Sari jolted awake, sweat pouring down her face and her breaths coming in short gasps. It was lucky she didn't scream. She quickly looked around and wiped her eyes dry. What had that been? That had never happened on Earth, she knew it!

"Just a nightmare...Just a bad nightmare..."

She gripped her arms tightly and swallowed, breathing as deeply as she could in a vain attempt to calm herself down. She then rested her forehead on her knees, curling up tightly.**  
**

**0XX0  
**

**Detroit -**

When the cycle came that the streets of Detroit were free of AllSpark shards and the humans were not demanding their services, Ultra Magnus called his Autoboto subordinates to the bridge of the Steelhaven for an emergency meeting to discuss and plan their bot-hunt of the escaped mech.

Optimus, his team, the Elite Guards and extras gathered around the control panels for the ship, waiting for the Supreme Commander to appear and...well, command them. The air was tense and silent, no bot dared to speak and break the unwritten vow before the Leader appeared. In the corner of the group, a bit away from the others, Bluestreak and Aluri kept to themselves in attempt to evade the tensions to not avail.

"Blue?"

"Yeah?"

"You think that if we snuck out and took the Sari girl back to the base, they would even notice?"

"Notice? They'd hardly even care if we dropped offline right now."

"Blue, give them more credit than that," Aluri adjusts herself and glanced around. "They'd care about us leaving a mess on the ship."

Bluestreak quickly bit down on his glossa and held back his laughter, curling up slightly as he tried not to topple over. Aluri grabbed onto his arm and held him upright, holding back her own insane giggles. They barely noticed the other bots staring at them weirdly and just kept to panting through their vents before they were able to make legible sentences again.

"Bluestreak?" Prowl asked as he leant back against a console. "Are you alright?"

The gun-mech slowly uncurled himself, still smiling widely as he looked up at the Cyber-Ninja beside him and Aluri. He choked out another chuckle before lifting a digit to Prowl and Jazz, who'd moved to stand beside his fellow ninja.

"Are...are you two brothers?" Prowl and Jazz glanced at each other and then back at Bluestreak, trying not to give in to the mech's curious gaze. Aluri smiled and rubbed the back of her helm as she finally calmed.

"S-Sorry! Blue does stuff like this all time." Said mech gave her a dirty look and she shrugged innocently. Bluestreak shook his head and looked back over at the ninjas.

"Weeeeell?"

"No, we're not." Prowl answered, his optic ridges furrowed in annoyance. Jazz just smirked. "Wjat gave you that notion?"

"The chins. They look similar."

Prowl face-palmed as Jazz laughed and clasped his servo over Prowl's shoulder, smirking more than what most would consider possible. Prowl responded with a bigger scowl which quickly shut Jazz up. Not so much luck with the other annoyances though...

"Y'know, he's got a point." Bumblebee started, nudging Bulkhead beside him, but the latter decided against joining his little buddy. Bluestreak nodded along, unphased by the looks Prowl and Aluri were giving him.

"Don't start anything now." Optimus warned as he snapped up straight along with Sentinel just before the Magnus entered from the brig hall. The aged mech, to say the least, looked exhausted and about ready to drop off into status if his grip on the Magnus Hammer wasn't so tight.

The others stood to attention as well, all optics staring and waiting in anticipation for what the Supreme Commander had to say.

"Now that the first obstacle to our goal has been removed, it is time to resume our primary goal: The capture and interrogation of the escaped prisoner." Ultra Magnus shifted his glossed-over gaze to Sentinel. "Sentinel, have you prepared the maps?"

"Of course, sir!" The blue and orange Prime smiled smugly and stood forward to take the centre stage beside Ultra Magnus. He took out a remote and pressed a button, activating a hologram presenting a map of the city-state...from 10 years ago.

"Sentinel, debrief and prepare the search party. I must return to my own duties." Magnus nodded to Sentinel and turned back the way he had come, shutting the doors tightly behind him. Upon his disappearance, Bluestreak burst into laughter again, earning a harsh glare from the superior Prime. Aluri nudged his shoulder.

"Blue, what's so funny?"

"H-He said 'duties'!"

"And that's funny?" Bumblebee asked, poking his head out.

"If humans find it funny, why can't I?"

"Blue, do you even know _why_ that's funny to them?" Aluri asked, leaning against her friend and raising an optic ridge at him. He gave her his own defeated look before leaning his head down for her to whisper into.

Quickly, his optics widened to the size of dinner plates and he flinched away from Aluri whom was smirking in satisfaction.

"That is...ew!"

"You got what you deserved, bud~" The femme relaxed back and chuckled, ignoring Sentinel's glares.

"Back on the important subject..."

**0XX0**

In the brig hall, Ultra Magnus paced slowly in front of NetGear's cell and avoided the Decepticon's piercing optics when he could. NetGear's armour was in a total state of decay now, with only a few spots left in colour. The rest of him was cold, hard and rigid, curled up into a ball and ready to snap if he should even flex a joint. His head held up just barely enough for his flickering optics to be seen by the towering figure that was Ultra Magnus/

"What do you want, Magnus...?" The Decepticon's voice was scratchy and full of static, barely audible to Magnus' old audios. Optics met and the air came to a standstill between them.

"You already know that Decepticon." Magnus hardened his stare, but NetGear remained as he was.

"You should jot refer to me as if I were a stranger, Ultra." NetGear's red optics flashed dangerously and Magnus felt the air around him suddenly chill. He tightened his grip on his Hammer's hilt more and pressed his glare on. "You hide behind a wall of lies...It shall crumble, your Dynasty into dust and fire...Your reign leaves only death...

"Drop the mask, end the torture..."

Ultra Magnus stiffened as his optics widened, but he quickly pushed the memories to the back of his processor and locked them tight. NetGear wasn't wrong. Though his appearance had changed drastically, there was no mistaking the scientist Magnus had met nearly 11 million stellar cycles ago when the Ministry of Science had been established by NetGear, Skyfire and...

And Starscream, of all bots.

It was a part of Cybertron's past that had thankfully been forgotten by the ones who had lived long enough. How the mech before him had survived for so long after Skyfire's disappearance...clearly, madness had overtaken his sanity and logic in that time.

The rest NetGear had spoken of, he pushed those thoughts back as well. While they were true, he refused to acknowledge any of it. If he ever did, then everything he had ever strived for and accomplished would be all for nothing all in vain toward the dream of a new Golden Age.

"Come out, come out...You cannot hide...You cannot hide from all your lies..."

Shaking his head and squeezing his optics shut, Ultra Magnus quickly turned away to create as much space between him and the cell as possible. Obviously, questioning the prisoner was too exhausting a task for him alone to take on this cycle. He'd have Jazz or Sentinel with him the next time. At least that way he wasn't ruined.

**0XX0  
**

Once Optimus' team had been released from debriefing hell and out into the wilds of Detroit city, Bumblebee and Bulkhead made a beeline towards Sari and Captain Fanzone. The officer groaned in relief when they approached and he turned to face Sari.

"About time you got back here! I'm not a babysitter, so I expect Sari here not to be left alone next time." Fanzone then reached into his back pocket and gave the girl a couple 10 dollar bills. "And buy some real food instead of that Burger Bot junk! Social services will see no reason why ya can't stay with your robot alien pals otherwise."

Sari glanced at the money and then at Fanzone, shuddering at the mention of social workers. "I've avoided 'em before, they can't catch me!"

"Uh-huh. Just don't make yourself sick, or waste my cash."

"Gotcha."

Fanzone gave Sari a 'I'm watching you' look before heading away to his own car, grumbling about robots, machines and taxes. Bumblebee and Bulkhead gazed down to their human friend who had pocketed the money and was now taking out her Key to fiddle with. They had taken notice of often she didn't have it in the last few cycles since this whole mess had started. She wouldn't talk about it when they confronted her, so they took Prowl's age-old advised and just waited for her to come out about it herself.

"So, where first?" Bulkhead asked, making Sari perk back up and quickly fling the Key chain around her neck. It flickered slightly, not that anyone saw it, before going back to its dull gray.

"I'm in the mood for a Mega Slice at Burger Bot, but last I checked the fridge was kinda empty soooo, we should stock up on midnight snacks." Sari answered, smiling smug at her 'superior' knowledge and planning on how to get through the cash point without a baby-bot-sitter.

**0XX0  
**

Unfortunately, that didn't go according to plan. Ratchet overheard them speaking and insisted somebot go 'supply gathering' with her. However, none of them could fit in the multi-story building so Prowl had to go with her via hologram.

Which was awkward.

Not only was Prowl's holoform a police officer, but it also constantly phased through things so shoppers around them got scared and paranoid. Sari did her best to ignore the comments and whispers as she pushed the trolley along while Prowl seemed unmoved by anything they said.

By the time they had finished, they had garned about 10 bags of 'discount-food-Prowl-found-worthy-ala-Internet' and, with help, had them all dumped into Bumblebee's backseats. Once all that had been packed into the tiny fridge at base, Sari made herself a few sandwiches (made with PJ and cream crackers instead of tomatoes and salad cream like she had been told to make) and got Bulkhead to drive her to the lakeside.

All she said was that the base was boring and that she needed to get out more. No bot objected – it was great for her to be away from the TV for a change! - so she was quick to get away.

The sun was hanging low by the time they got to the sandy shore. Bulkhead wondered around, taking in whatever inspiration he could get for his next art piece, while Sari sat on a rock and age her food. Her Key lay against her chest numbly and she ignored it, it'd been quiet today thankfully.

Sari took a bite out of her sandwich and glazed her eyes over the shimmering lake, making out Dinobot Island not far out in the distance. As usual, it was silent across the water. The Dinobots were probably chasing each other through the forest, or something like tha–

Wait, what now?

Sari stopped mid-chew when her Key glowed brightly and pointed its light over to Dinobot Island. The young girl followed the line of sight, staring at the far beach of the island. She frowned and was about to pocket the Key when she caught sight of a Dinobot on the beach.

Grimlock was weilding his flame sword, but threw it into the forest before releasing a mighty roar into the open. But then, Sari's head snapped up when she saw his opponent – the other Prowl!

Her jaw fell and some food slipped out as she stared at the ninja and Dinobot pressing their weight against each other in an effort to topple the other over. They seemed to be evenly matched, though Grimlock was starting to push 'Prowl' into the sand. Sari quickly turned her head around. Was Bulkhead watching?! No, he was busy. Should she tell him? No, the Elite Guard jerks were going to do Primus-knows-what to him if they caught him.

She spat out her food and grimaced when a seagull swooped down to eat it. When she looked back to the island again, her lips fell into a frown at the lack of anybot there. Had she daydreamed? No, not even her imagination could make something like that up!

The girl sighed heavily and gazed down at her limp Key, frowning more as she out the rest of her sandwich aside. Maybe she could get to the island herself and talk to him? He had to know something about what was wrong with her Key, right? She probably could, but not without someone noticing. Then they'd both be in big trouble! No one wanted one of Optimus' speeches for 3 weeks straight; that was torture!

"Sari?" Said girl turned her head over to her green giant friend as he neared her. "Ready to head back?"

"Yeah, Bulk," She stole a last look at Dinobot Island and sighed again. "Sure."

* * *

_...I'm pretty sure I owe a lot of apologies for the lack of updating on this fanfic! Truth is, the last year of Sixth Form was very busy for me and I didn't have much time to complete this chapter, and I'm starting college soon so I don't know how much more time I'll get then. However, I have the next 6 chapters of this fanfic planned out and I can promise that there'll be a lot of fun coming and you'll either love or hate me for what I'm going to do with the characters! I plan to get those chapters released before my webcomic work takes over in September, so updates ahoy!_

_Anyways, please leave a review and go check out the TimeScape group on dA! I've limited viewing to dA members only because I've been dealing with art thieves recently, so I'm just being careful, sorry._


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